MOLLIE'S 

SUBSTITUTE 

HUSBAND 

MAX     MCCONN 


MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE 
HUSBAND 


"Get  the  paper!" 


Page  74 


MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE 
HUSBAND 


BY 
MAX  McCONN 


WltH  FRONTISPIECE  BY 

EDWARD  C.    CASWELL 


NEW  YORK 
DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY 

1920 


COPYEIGHT,    1920 

BY  DODD,  MEAD  AND  COMPANY,  INC. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  "  THE  PROFESSOR"  ON  A  SPREE      .       .  l 

II  THE  PRETTIEST  GIRL       ....  9 

III  FRIENDLY  STRANGERS      ....  18 

IV  AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  EEFORMER        .        .  25 
V  ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN  .        .  38 

VI  STAGE-SETTING  .        .        .        .        .        .47 

VII    BOY  AND  GIRL 60 

VIII  PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK         .        .  68 

IX    AUNT  MARY 81 

X    A  SENATOR  MISSING 94 

XI  CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  No.  73       .        .  102 

XII  GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS  .        .        .  116 

XIII  A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT     .        .        .  129 

XIV  HOLDING  THE  FORT 141 

XV    COUNCIL  OF  WAR 158 

XVI  THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER         .        .        .  168 

XVII  A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY         ....  180 

XVIII    JENNIE 195 

XIX  A  NEW  ANTAGONIST         ....  210 

XX  AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY  .        .        .  225 

XXI    FLASH  LIGHTS 239 

XXII  VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT        ....  250 

XXIII  RETURN     .        .        .        .        .        .        .266 

XXIV  THE  REFORM  LEAGUE  276 


vi  CONTENTS 

XXV  SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR      .        .        .291 

XXVI  THE  BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR  .    306 

XXVII  THE  CODE  TELEGRAM    .        .        .        .    321 

XXVIII  SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  ....    329 

XXIX  THE  FINAL  DILEMMA     .       .        .       .344 

XXX  MOLUE  JUNE         .        ,        ,        ,        .    359 


2137185   ' 


MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE 
HUSBAND 

CHAPTER  I 

"  THE  PROFESSOR  "  ON  A  SPREE 

TOKN"  MERRIAM,  Principal  of  the  High  School 
*l  at  Riceville,  Illinois — "  Professor  "  Merriam,  as 
he  was  universally  called  by  the  citizens  of  Rice- 
ville— was  wickedly,  carnally,  gloriously  happy. 
He  was  having  an  unwonted  spree. 

I  fear  the  reader  will  be  shocked.  The  principal 
of  a  high  school,  he  will  say,  has  no  right  to  a  spree, 
even  an  occasional  one.  The  "  Professor  "  has  girl 
students  in  his  classes — mostly  girls,  indeed,  and 
usually  the  prettiest  ones  in  town — and  women 
teachers  under  his  supervision.  Every  seventh  day 
he  teaches  a  young  people's  class  in  a  Sunday 
School.  He  makes  addresses  at  meetings  of  the 
Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  other  alpha- 
betically designated  societies  that  make  for  right- 
eousness and  decorum.  He  should  at  all  times  and 
in  all  places  be  a  model,  an  exemplar,  to  the  bud- 
ding young  men  and  women  of  the  community  in 
general  and  his  school  in  particular. 

In  this  reasoning  the  reader  is  in  strict  accord 
with  what  the  sentiment  of  all  Riceville  would  have 
been  if  it  had  known — if  it  could  have  known. 

1 


2          MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Nevertheless,  it  is  the  regrettable  and  shocking 
fact  that  John  Merriam  was  sitting  on  that  pleasant 
April  evening  in  the  Peacock  Cabaret  of  the  Hotel 
De  Soto  in  the  wicked  city  of  Chicago.  He  was 
attired  in  evening  clothes,  a  fact  which  in  itself 
would  have  seemed  both  odd  and  reprehensible  to 
Eiceville,  and  he  was  alone  at  a  tiny  table  with  a 
yellow-silk-shaded  lamp.  He  had  just  been  guided 
to  that  table,  and  pending  the  arrival  of  a  waiter, 
he  was  gazing  eagerly,  boyishly  about  him  at  such 
delights  as  the  somewhat  garish  Peacock  Cabaret 
displayed. 

For  John  Merriam,  though  a  "professor,"  was 
young.  He  was  only  twenty-eight.  He  was  tall 
and  blond  and  athletic,  as  young  men  who  grow  up 
on  farms  in  the  Middle  West  and  then  go  to  college 
have  a  way  of  being.  And  after  his  season  of 
strenuous  and  highly  virtuous  labours  at  Eiceville 
he  was  really  hungry,  keen,  fotf  something — well, 
just  a  little  less  virtuous. 

A  distinguished  looking  gentleman  in  a  dinner 
jacket,  conspicuously  labeled  with  a  number,  some- 
what haughtily  and  negligently  approached,  bear- 
ing a  menu  card. 

About  three  paces  away  this  gentleman,  having 
glanced  at  young  Merriam,  fairly  stopped  and 
stared  at  him.  An  odd  expression  showed  upon 
his  face — an  expression,  one  would  almost  have 
said,  of  intense  animosity.  Then,  as  he  still  stared, 
one  might  have  decided  that  his  look  betokened 
perplexity.  He  winked  his  eyes  several  times  and 


"  THE  PROFESSOR  "  ON  A  SPREE        3 

once  more  scrutinised  his  waiting  guest.  At  length 
— perhaps  ten  seconds  had  passed — his  face  slowly, 
wonderingly  cleared,  his  usual  air  of  vacant  indif- 
ference returned,  and  he  advanced  and  placed  the 
menu  card  in  Merriam's  hands.  The  latter,  still 
drinking  in  the  sights  and  sounds  of  his  unaccus- 
tomed environment,  had  noticed  nothing. 

Now  it  is  always  prudent  to  note  a  waiter's  num- 
ber when  he  first  presents  himself,  for  in  case  he 
should  decide  to  begin  his  summer  vacation  im- 
mediately after  taking  your  order  you  may  need  to 
mention  his  number  to  the  head  waiter.  In  this 
case  the  number  was  73. 

The  hauteur  and  negligence  displayed  were  partly 
habitual — professional,  so  to  speak — but  were  inten- 
sified perhaps  by  the  reaction  from  the  emotion, 
whatever  it  was,  which  he  had  apparently  just  ex- 
perienced— perhaps  also  by  the  look  of  alert  and 
genuine  pleasure  on  Merriam's  face.  Such  a  look 
did  not  wholly  commend  itself  or  him  to  a  sophisti- 
cated metropolitan  taste.  What  right  had  a  patron 
of  the  Peacock  Cabaret  to  look  really  pleased?  It 
was  hardly  decent — and  argued  a  small  tip. 

Inwardly  Merriam,  now  aware  of  the  waiter's 
presence,  reacted  acutely  to  this  clearly  perceptible 
disdain.  Which  shows  how  young  and  how  rural 
he  was.  We  maturer,  urban  folk  are  never,  of 
course,  in  the  least  nonplused  by  those  contemptu- 
ous, blase  silences  of  waiters  who  possess  the  bear- 
ing and  manner  of  a  governor  or  a  capitalist. 

But  John  Merriam  had  been  excellent  in  amateur 


4          MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

dramatics  at  college,  and  he  now  roused  himself  to 
a  magnificent  histrionic  effort  in  the  role  of  "  man 
of  the  world." 

He  pushed  the  menu  card  aside  without  looking 
at  it. 

"A  clam  cocktail,  please,  and  a  stein  of  beer," 
he  murmured,  low  enough  to  force  the  distinguished 
one  to  unbend  slightly  in  order  to  catch  the 
words. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Waiter  No.  73,  with  a  tentative 
suggestion  of  respect  in  his  tone.  A  customer  who 
did  not  bother  to  look  at  the  menu  might  be  worth 
while  afrcer  all. 

"  And  then  what?  " 

"  I'll  see  how  I  feel  then,"  said  Merriam  with  a 
half  yawn. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Waiter  No.  73,  almost  courte- 
ously, and  departed  at  a  pace  slightly  quickened 
over  that  of  his  approach,  as  a  man  strolling  at 
complete  leisure  wTill  instinctively  increase  the 
tempo  of  his  step  if  he  chances  to  recall  a  definite 
engagement  on  the  day  after  to-morrow. 

Merriam  grinned  delightedly.  He  had  put  it 
across — his  little  piece  of  acting.  He  had  measur- 
ably imposed  his  role  on  his  audience  of  one;  at 
least  he  had  shaken  him. 

And  then — I  shudder  when  I  recall  the  views  on 
nicotine  of  the  Board  of  Education  at  Eiceville — he 
drew  from  his  pocket  a  package  of  cigarettes,  and 
took  a  match  from  the  table,  and  lit  a  cigarette,  and 
sent  a  volume  of  smoke  out  through  his  nostrils — 


"  THE  PROFESSOR  "  ON  A  SPREE        5 

proving,  alas,  that  it  was  not  his  first  indulgence, — 
and,  with  a  sigh  that  might  almost  be  described  as 
ecstatic,  turned  his  attention  again  to  the  scene 
about  him. 

That  scene  was  piquant  to  him — after  the  ugly 
dining  room  of  his  boarding  house  at  Eiceville  and 
the  barren  assembly  hall  of  the  High  School — to  a 
degree  almost  incredible  to  persons  more  habituated 
to  the  Peacock  Cabaret  and  similar  resorts.  Not 
being  quite  so  fresh  from  Riceville,  nor  yet  the 
advertising  manager  of  the  Hotel  De  Soto,  I  cannot, 
I  fear,  paint  the  prospect  as  Merriam  saw  it.  I 
shall  not  be  able  to  conceal  some  mental  reserva- 
tions as  to  its  charms.  The  purple  peacocks  upon 
the  walls  and  ceiling,  from  which  the  restaurant 
took  its  name,  were  certainly  a  trifle  over-gorgeous, 
just  as  the  music  which  the  orchestra  intermittently 
dispensed  was  too  much  syncopated.  Again,  the 
scores  of  small  tables,  each  with  its  silk-shaded 
lamp,  its  slim  glass  vase  for  a  single  rosebud,  its 
water  bottle  bearing  the  arms  of  the  Chevalier  De 
Soto,  and  its  ash  receptacle — all  alike  as  shoe 
boxes  in  a  shoe  shop  are  alike, — might  to  a  tired 
fancy  suggest  a  certain  monotony  of  pleasure,  a 
too-much-standardised,  ready-made  brand  of  bliss. 
The  small,  skimped  stage,  with  its  undeniably  banal 
curtain,  and  the  crowded  dancing  floor  did  not 
really  promise  unlimited  delights.  Some  percep- 
tion of  all  this  was  apparent  in  the  faces  and  bear- 
ing of  many  of  the  white-shirt-fronted  men  who  sat 
at  the  scores  of  tables  and  of  the  women  who  were 


6          MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

with  them,  however  bird-of-paradise-like  the  rai- 
ment of  the  latter  might  be.  Not  a  few  indeed  dis- 
played an  air  of  languor  and  ennui  that  might  have 
won  approval  even  from  Waiter  No.  73. 

But  in  speaking  thus  of  the  Peacock  Cabaret  I 
am  stepping  outside  my  story,  violating  unity  of 
point  of  view — in  short,  committing  a  heinous  liter- 
ary crime.  For  to  Merriam  at  that  moment  the 
screaming  purple  peacocks,  the  regiments  of  rose- 
buds, the  musical  comedy  melodies,  the  gay  attire 
and  bare  shoulders  of  the  women,  and  even  the  tired, 
look  of  his  fellow-diners,  which  he  interpreted  as 
sophistication  rather  than  simple  boredom,  were 
thrillingly  symbolical  of  all  the  delights  which  the 
great  world  held  and  which  were  absent  from  Eice- 
ville.  And  when  Waiter  No.  73  leisurely  returned, 
to  find  him  outwardly  almost  too  near  asleep  to 
keep  his  cigarette  going,  and  deposited  his  clam 
cocktail  and  the  wicked  stein  before  him,  and  at  the 
same  moment  the  orchestra  became  more  noisy  than 
ever,  and  all  the  lights  except  those  upon  the  tables 
went  out,  and  the  stage  curtain  rose  upon  a  short- 
skirted  chorus,  he  was  really  in  a  sort  of  Omar 
Khayyam  paradise.  It  was  lucky  that  Waiter  No. 
73  had  again  departed  to  those  unknown  regions 
where  waiters  spend  the  bulk  of  their  time,  for 
Merriam  could  not  have  concealed  the  zest  with 
which  he  alternately  ate  and  drank  and  surveyed 
the  moderately  comely  demoiselles  upon  the  little 
stage. 

Having  finished  his  cocktail  and  drunk  some  of 


«  THE  PKOFESSOR  "  ON  A  SPEEE        7 

Ms  beer  and  seen  the  curtain  descend  on  the  first 
"act"  of  the  cabaret's  dramatic  entertainment, 
Merriam  lit  another  cigarette,  shifted  his  chair,  and 
settled  himself  to  await  the  probable  future  return 
of  his  servitor.  His  thoughts  dwelt  contentedly  on 
the  evening  before  him.  For  after  his  meal  he 
would  have  a  stroll  with  a  cigar  in  the  spring  twi- 
light (it  was  barely  six-thirty  then)  through  the 
noisy,  brightly  lighted  streets  of  the  Loop,  which 
never  failed  to  thrill  him  with  a  sense  of  a  somehow 
wicked  vastness,  power,  and  riches  in  the  great  city 
of  which  they  were  the  center.  And  then  he  was 
going  to  the  "  Follies."  He  fingered  the  small 
envelope  in  his  pocket  which  held  his  ticket.  And 
after  the  show  he  would  have  a  supper  in  another 
cabaret. 

Beyond  that  he  did  not  let  his  fancy  wander. 
For  after  that  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  catch 
the  2 : 00  A.  M.  train  on  the  Illinois  Central  that 
would  carry  him  back  to  Kiceville  for  the  remaining 
six  weeks  of  the  school  year.  He  had  come  up  to 
Chicago  on  this  spring  day — a  Tuesday  it  was — to 
attend  a  convention  of  high-school  principals  and 
to  engage  a  couple  of  new  teachers  for  the  next  year, 
to  replace  two  that  were  to  be  married  in  June. 
And  he  had  faithfully  done  these  things.  And  now 
he  was  giving  himself  just  this  one  evening  of 
amusements — two  cabaret  meals  and  a  "show," 
sauced,  so  to  speak,  with  a  little  tobacco  and  beer 
and  the  wearing  of  his  evening  clothes.  Surely, 
whatever  Kiceville  might  have  thought,  he  will  not 


8          MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

seem  to  most  of  us  very  derelict  from  the  austere 
ideals  of  his  profession. 

The  only  real  point  against  him — most  of  us 
might  argue — lies  in  the  fact  that  when  you  touch 
even  the  outermost  fringes  of  the  night  life  of  a  city, 
you  are  never  quite  certain  what  may  come  to  you. 
For  there  are  things  happening  all  about  you,  under 
the  conventional,  monotonous  surface  —  things 
amusing  and  things  terrible — men  and  women  play- 
ing with  the  fire  of  every  known  human  passion, — 
and  if  the  finger  of  some  adventure  reaches  out  for 
you  you  may  not  be  able  to  resist  its  lure,  perhaps 
even  to  escape  its  clutch. 


CHAPTER  H 

THE  PKETTIEST  GIRL 

I  HAVE  said  that  Merriam  had  shifted  his  chair 
a  little  as  he  lit  his  second  cigarette.  A  moment 
later  he  was  looking  very  hard  at  a  certain  pretty 
woman  at  a  table  half  way  across  the  room.  His 
heart  stopped.  At  least  that  is  the  phrase  a  novelist 
seems  to  be  required  to  use  to  indicate  the  sudden 
pulse  of  amazement  and  pleasure  and  alarm  which 
he  certainly  felt. 

The  young  woman  at  whom  he  was  staring  had  a 
name  which  is  very  important  for  this  story  and 
which  I  shall  presently  tell  you,  but  in  John  Mer- 
riam's  mind  her  name  was  "  the  prettiest  girl,"  and 
her  other  name,  which  he  seldom  dared  whisper  to 
his  heart,  was  "  Mollie  June."  She  was  from  Kice- 
ville — hence  the  alarm  with  which  his  pleasure  was 
mixed, — and  during  his  first  four  months  of  teach- 
ing, three  years  before,  she  had  been  in  his  senior 
class  in  the  High  School — the  "  prettiest  girl  "  in 
the  class  and  in  the  school  and  in  the  town — and  in 
the  State  and  the  United  States  and  the  world,  if 
you  had  asked  John  Merriam.  Advanced  algebra 
with  Mollie  June  in  the  class  had  been  the  most 
golden  of  sciences — pleasure  squared,  delight  cubed, 
and  bliss  to  the  rath  power.  I  am  not  myself  abso- 

9 


10        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

lutely  convinced  of  Mollie  June's  proficiency  in 
solving  quadratic  equations,  yet  the  official  records 
of  the  Kiceville  High  School  show  that  she  re- 
ceived the  highest  mark  in  the  class. 

But  she  was  the  daughter  of  James  P.  Partridge, 
the  owner  of  all  Riceville ;  that  is  to  say,  of  the  coal 
mines  outside  the  town,  of  the  grain  elevator,  of  the 
street  car  and  electric  light  company,  and  of  the 
First  National  Bank.  Who  was  John  Merriam, 
the  son  of  a  poor  farmer  in  a  southern  county,  who 
had  worked  his  way  through  college  and  come  out 
with  nothing  but  a  B.  S.  degree,  a  football  reputa- 
tion that  was  quite  unnegotiable,  and  three  hundred 
dollars  of  fraternity  debts — an  enormous  sum, — to 
mix  anything  warmer  or  livelier  than  a2-b2  in  his 
thoughts  of  a  class  to  which  Mollie  June  Partridge 
deigned  to  belong?  Even  if  Mollie  June  herself  did 
come  up  to  his  desk  in  the  assembly  room  two  or 
three  times  a  week  for  help  in  her  algebra  and  spend 
most  of  the  time  asking  him  about  college  instead, 
and  join  his  Young  People's  Class,  which  she  had 
previously  refused  to  attend,  and  allow  him  to  "  see 
her  home  "  from  church  sociables,  and  compel  that 
docile  magnate,  John  P.  Partridge,  her  father,  to 
invite  the  new  "  professor  "  to  dinner  twice  during 
the  half  year?  As  well  almost  might  a  humble 
tutor  in  the  castle  of  a  feudal  lord  have  raised  his 
eyes  to  the  baron's  daughter. 

Almost,  but  not  quite.  After  all  this  is  a  free 
republic.  Even  a  poor  pedagogue  is  a  citizen  with 
a  vote  and  a  potential  candidate  for  the  presi- 


THE  PRETTIEST  GIRL  11 

dency — which,  at  least  two  poor  pedagogues  have 
attained.  So  John  Merriam  permitted  himself  to 
be  very  happy  during  those  four  months  and  was 
not  in  the  least  hopeless.  Only  he  saw  that  he 
must  bide  his  time. 

But  early  in  January  Mollie  June  left  school, 
and  in  a  few  days  it  came  out  that  she  had  left  to 
be  married — married  to  Senator  Norman! 

Senator  Norman  was  the  famous  "  boy  senator  " 
from  Illinois — at  the  time  of  his  election  the  young- 
est man  who  had  ever  sat  in  the  upper  house  of  Con- 
gress. The  ruddiness  of  his  cheeks,  the  abundance 
of  his  wavy  blond  hair,  and  the  athletic  jaunti- 
ness  of  his  carriage  won  votes  whenever  he  stumped 
the  State.  They  went  far  to  counteract  malicious 
insinuations  as  to  the  means  by  which  he  was  roll- 
ing up  a  fortune  and  his  solidity  with  "  interests  " 
which  the  proletariat  viewed  with  suspicion. 

And  now,  having  been  a  widower  for  eighteen 
months — his  first  wife  was  older  than  he  and  had 
brought  him  money, — he  had  stayed  for  a  week-end 
during  the  Christmas  holidays  with  James  P.  Par- 
tridge, who  was  a  cousin  of  the  Senator's  first  wife 
and  his  political  lieutenant  for  a  certain  group  of 
counties,  and  had  seen  Mollie  June  and  wanted  her 
and  asked  for  her  and  got  her,  as  George  Norman 
always  asked  for  and  got  whatever  he  wanted. 

All  this  was,  of  course,  in  John  Merriam's  mind 
as  he  gazed  across  a  dozen  tables  in  the  Peacock 
Cabaret  at  the  unchanged  profile  of  the  prettiest 
girl — that  is  to  say,  Mrs.  Senator  Norman.  And 


12        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

with  it  came  an  acute  revival  of  the  desolation  of 
that  January  and  February  at  Blceville,  when  he 
had  perceived  with  the  Hebrew  sage  that  "  in  much 
learning  " — or  in  little,  for  that  matter — "  is  much 
weariness,"  and  that  algebra  should  have  been 
buried  with  the  medieval  Arabians  who  invented 
it — when  even  the  State  championship  in  basket 
ball,  won  by  the  Eiceville  Five  under  his  coaching, 
was  only  a  trouble  and  a  bore. 

There  is  no  doubt  he  stared  rudely.  At  least  it 
would  have  been  rudely  if  his  eyes  had  held  the  look 
which  eyes  that  stare  at  pretty  women  commonly 
hold.  But  such  a  look  as  stood  in  Merriam's  eyes 
can  hardly  be  rude,  however  intent  and  prolonged 
it  may  be. 

He  was  merely  entranced  in  the  literal  sense  of 
that  word.  Her  girlish  white  shoulders — he  had 
never  seen  her  shoulders  before — in  Blceville 
women  no  more  have  shoulders  than  they  have 
legs — the  soft  brown  hair  over  her  ears — even  the 
mode  of  the  day,  which  called  for  close  net  effects 
and  tight  knobs,  could  not  conceal  its  fine  soft- 
ness— the  colour  in  her  cheeks,  which  unquestion- 
ably shamed  all  the  neighbouring  rosebuds — the 
quite  inexplicable  deliciousness  of  those  particular 
small  curves  described  by  the  lines  of  her  nose  and 
chin  and  throat  as  he  saw  them  in  half  profile — 
were  more  than  he  could  draw  his  eyes  away  from 
for  an  unconscionable  number  of  seconds,  Of  her 
charmingly  simple  and  unquestionably  very  ex- 
pensive frock  as  a  separate  fact,  and  of  the  thin, 


THE  PRETTIEST  GIRL  13 

pale,  and  elderly,  but  gorgeously  arrayed  woman 
who  was  lier  companion,  lie  had  no  clear  percep- 
tion, but  undoubtedly  they  both  contributed,  along 
with  the  lights  and  colours  and  music  of  the  Pea- 
cock Cabaret,  to  the  deplorable  confusion  of  his 
mind. 

Out  of  that  confusion  there  presently  arose  cer- 
tain clear  images  and  tones  and  words,  which  made 
up  his  memory  of  the  last  time  he  had  seen  and 
spoken  with  the  present  Mrs.  Senator  Norman. 

It  was  at  and  after  a  miscellaneous  kind  of  young 
people's  entertainment  which  occurred  at  the  Meth- 
odist Church  on  the  evening  of  that  bitter  day  on 
which  the  news  of  her  engagement  to  Senator  Nor- 
man had  run  like  a  prairie  fire  through  the  streets 
and  homes  of  Riceville,  fiercely  incinerating  all 
other  topics  of  conversation,  and  consuming  also 
the  joy  in  life,  the  ambition,  the  very  youth,  it 
seemed  to  him,  of  John'  Merriam.  He  would  not 
have  gone  to  that  entertainment  if  he  could  have 
escaped.  But  there  were  to  be  charades,  and  he 
had  arranged  and  coached  most  of  them  and  was 
to  be  in  several.  He  "  simply  had  to  go,"  as  Rice- 
villians  might  have  said. 

She  was  there  with  her  mother.  When  had  she 
ever  come  just  with  her  mother,  that  is  to  say,  with- 
out a  male  escort,  before?  That  fact  alone  was 
symbolical  of  the  closing  of  the  gates  of  matrimony 
upon  her.  Naturally,  in  his  pain  he  followed  his 
primitive  and  childish  instincts  and  avoided  her. 

But  he  was  aware — he  was  almost  sure — of  her 


14        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

eyes  continually  following  him  throughout  the 
evening,  and  during  "  refreshments  "  she  deliber- 
ately came  up  to  him  and  said  that  her  mother  was 
obliged  to  leave  early,  and  would  he  see  her  home? 
Well,  of  course,  if  she  asked  him,  he  had  to.  I  am 
afraid  that  the  tone  if  not  the  words  of  his  reply 
said  as  much,  and  Mollie  June  had  turned  away 
with  quick  tears  in  her  eyes.  Yet  I  question 
whether  she  was  really  hurt  by  his  rudeness.  For 
why  should  he  be  rude  to-night  when  he  had  never 
been  so  before  unless  he — to  use  the  most  expressive 
of  Americanisms — "cared"? 

For  the  rest  of  the  evening,  as  a  result  of  those 
tears,  which  he  had  seen,  it  was  his  eyes  that  fol- 
lowed her,  while  hers  avoided  him.  But  he  did  not 
speak  with  her  again  until  "  seeing-home "  time 
arrived. 

Mollie  June  lingered  till  the  very  end  of  every- 
thing. Perhaps  the  little  girl  in  her — for  she  was 
barely  eighteen — clung  to  this  last  shred  of  the 
familiar,  homely  social  life  of  her  girlhood  before 
she  should  be  plunged  into  the  frightful  brilliance 
of  real  "society"  in  terrific  places  known  as 
Chicago  and  Washington — as  a  senator's  wife ! 

But  at  last  they  were  walking  together  towards 
her  home. 

"  Take  my  arm,  please,"  said  Mollie  June. 

The  boys  in  Biceville  always  take  the  girls'  arms 
at  night,  though  never  in  the  daytime.  John  ought 
to  have  taken  her  arm  before.  He  took  it. 

"Have  you  heard  that  I  am  going  to  be  mar* 


THE  PKETTIEST  GIRL  15 

ried?  "  asked  Mollie  June — as  if  she  did  not  know 
that  everybody  in  the  county  knew  it  by  that 
time. 

"Yes,"  said  John,  his  tone  as  succinct  as  his 
monosyllable. 

But  girls  learn  early  to  deal  with  the  conversa- 
tional difficulties  and  recalcitrances  of  males  un- 
der stress  of  emotion. 

"  It  means  leaving  school  and  Eiceville  and — 
everything,"  said  Mollie  June. 

John  could  not  fail  to  catch  the  note  of  pitiful- 
ness  in  her  sentence.  If  the  prospective  marriage 
had  been  with  any  one  less  dazzling  than  George 
Norman,  he  might  have  reacted  more  properly.  As 
it  was,  he  replied  with  a  stilted  impersonality 
which  might  have  been  caught  from  the  bright 
stars  shining  through  the  bare  branches  under 
which  they  walked. 

"  You  will  have  a  very  rich  and  brilliant  life," 
he  said. 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Mollie  June. 

They  walked  on,  he  still  obediently  clutching  her 
arm,  in  silence;  conversation  not  accompaniable 
with  laughter  is  so  difficult  an  art  for  youth. 

Presently  Mollie  June  tried  again. 

"Aren't  you  sorry  I'm  leaving  the  school — Mr. 
Merriam?  " 

"  I'm  very  sorry  indeed,"  responded  "  Professor  " 
Merriam.  "  You  ought  to  have  stayed  to  graduate." 

"I  don't  care  about  graduating,"  said  Mollie 
June. 


16        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Again  their  footsteps  echoed  in  the  cold  January 
silence. 

Then  Mollie  June  made  a  third  attempt : 

"  You  look  ever  so  much  like  Mr.  Norman." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Merriam.    "  We're  related." 

"Oh,  are  you?" 

"  On  my  mother's  side.  We're  second  cousins. 
But  the  two  branches  of  the  family  have  nothing 
to  do  with  each  other  now." 

"  He  has  the  same  hair  and  the  same  shape  of 
head  and  the  same  way  of  sitting  and  moving," 
Mollie  June  declared  with  enthusiasm,  "and  almost 
the  same  eyes  and  voice.  Only  his  are " 

"  Older !  "  said  John  Merriam  rudely. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mollie  June. 

Distances  are  not  great  in  Riceville.  For  this 
reason  the  ceremony  of  "  seeing  home  "  is  usually 
performed  by  a  circuitous  route,  sometimes  involv- 
ing the  entire  circumference  of  the  "  nice  "  part  of 
the  town.  But  on  this  occasion  John  and  Mollie 
June  had  gone  directly,  as  though  their  object  had 
been  to  arrive.  They  reached  her  home — a  matter 
of  two  blocks  from  the  church — before  another  word 
had  been  said. 

There  Mollie  June  carefully  extricated  her 
arm  from  his  mechanical  grasp  and  confronted 
him. 

He  looked  at  her  face,  peeping  out  of  the  fur 
collar  of  her  coat  in  the  starlight,  and  for  one 
instant  into  her  eyes. 

She  was  saying :  "  I  am  very  grateful  to  you,  Mr. 


THE  PRETTIEST  GIRL  17 

Merriam,  for  all  the  help  you  have  given  me — in — 
algebra." 

He  ought  to  have  kissed  her.  She  wanted  him 
to.  He  half  divined  as  much — afterwards. 

But  the  awkward,  callow,  Anglo-Saxon,  rural, 
pedagogical  cub  in  him  replied,  "  I  am  glad  if  I 
have  been  able  to  help  you  in  anything." 

That,  I  judge,  was  too  much  for  Mollie  June. 
She  held  out  her  little  gloved  hand. 

"  Good-bye,  Mr.  Merriam !  " 

He  took  her  hand.  And  now  appears  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  college  education,  including  amateur 
dramatics  and  courses  in  English  poetry  and 
romantic  fiction.  He  did  what  no  other  swain  in 
Riceville  could  have  done.  He  raised  her  hand  to 
his  lips  and  kissed  it !  At  least  he  kissed  the  glove 
which  tightly  enclosed  the  hand. 

"  Good-bye,  Mollie  June ! "  he  said,  using  that 
name  for  the  first  time. 

Then  he  dropped  her  hand,  somewhat  suddenly, 
I  fear,  turned  abruptly,  and  walked  rapidly  away. 

As  to  what  Mollie  June  said  or  thought  or  felt, 
how  should  I  knc^v?  There  was  nothing  for  her 
to  do  but  to  go  into  the  house,  and  that  is  what 
she  did. 


CHAPTER  III 

FRIENDLY  STRANGERS 

JOHN  MEREIAM  raised  his  eyes  from  the  table- 
cloth on  which  they  had  rested  while  these 
images  from  the  distant  past — two  and  one-half 
years  ago — moved  across  the  screen  of  his  memory. 
To  his  now  mature  perceptions  the  stupidity  and 
gaucherie  of  his  own  part  in  that  scene — save  for 
the  redeeming  kissing  of  the  glove — were  clearly 
apparent,  and  were  for  the  moment  almost  as  pain- 
ful to  him  as  the  fact  that  Mollie  June  was  another 
man's  wife. 

He  glanced  around,  avoiding  only  the  table  at 
which  Mrs.  Senator  Norman  sat.  The  glory  was 
gone  from  the  Peacock  Cabaret.  The  garishness 
of  the  peacocks,  the  tin-panniness  of  the  music,  the 
futility  of  beer  and  cigarettes  and  evening  clothes, 
were  desolatingly  revealed  to  him.  He  put  his 
cigarette  aside,  to  smoke  itself  up  unregarded  on 
the  ash  tray. 

It  had  been  his  duty  to  "  forget,"  and  it  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  justice  to  say  that  after  a' fashion 
he  had  succeeded  in  doing  so.  His  winter  and 
spring,  three  years  ago,  had  been  miserable ;  but  he 
had  undeniably  enjoyed  his  summer  vacation,  and 
had  found  interest  in  his  work  again  in  the  fall. 

18 


FRIENDLY  STRANGERS  19 

To  be  sure,  the  edge  was  gone  from  his  ambition. 
He  had  stuck  ploddingly  at  teaching,  too  indifferent 
to  try  to  better  himself.  Still  he  had  not  been 
actively  unhappy.  But  now 

He  was  diverted  by  the  return  of  Waiter  No.  73. 
No  need  of  play-acting  now  to  conceal  any  un- 
sophisticated delight  in  his  surroundings.  But  he 
must  pull  himself  together.  He  must  not  exhibit 
to  the  world,  as  incarnated  in  Waiter  No.  73,  a  de- 
pression as  boyish  as  his  previous  pleasure.  He 
must  still  be  the  stoical,  tranquil  man  of  the  world, 
who  knows  women  and  tears  them  from  his  heart 
when  need  be.  It  was  the  same  role — with  a  dif- 
ference ! 

"  What  next,  sir?  " 

Merriam  glanced  hastily  at  the  menu  card  and 
ordered  a  steak  with  French  fried  potatoes  and  a 
lettuce-and-tomato  salad.  He  was  not  up  to  an 
attack  on  any  unfamiliar  viands. 

As  he  gave  his  order  he  was  aware  of  a  party  of 
three  persons,  seated  a  little  to  his  left — the  oppo- 
site direction  from  the  fateful  spot  inhabited  by 
Mollie  June, — who  seemed  to  be  taking  particular 
note  of  him.  And  as  he  lit  another  cigarette  after, 
the  waiter  had  left  him  he  noticed  them  again.  Un- 
questionably they  were  furtively  regarding  him. 
Now  and  then  they  exchanged  remarks  of  which 
he  was  sure  he  was  the  subject. 

The  three  persons  included  a  square-jawed  man 
of  about  forty-five,  a  pale,  benevolent-looking 
priest  and  a  very  beautiful  woman.  The  woman 


20        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

had  not  only  shoulders  and  arms  but  also  a  great 
deal  of  bosom  and  back,  all  dazzlingly,  powderedly 
fair  and  ideally  plump.  She  had  black  hair  and 
eyes — brilliantly,  even  aggressively,  black.  Her 
gown  was  a  lavender  silk  net  with  spangles.  Her 
age — well,  she  was  certainly  older  than  Mollie  June 
and  certainly  within,  safely  within,  "  the  age  at 
which  women  cease  to  be  interesting  to  men,"  what- 
ever that  age  may  be. 

Our  youthful  man  of  the  world  was  a  little  em- 
barrassed at  first  by  the  scrutiny  of  this  gorgeous 
trio.  He  glanced  quickly  down  at  his  own  attire, 
as  a  girl  might  have  done.  But  there  could  be 
nothing  wrong  with  his  evening  clothes.  (A  man 
is  so  safe  in  that  respect.)  They  were  only  five 
years  old,  having  been  acquired,  in  a  heroic  burst  of 
extravagance,  during  his  senior  year  in  college. 
He  wanted  to  put  his  hand  up  to  his  white  bow  to 
make  sure  it  was  not  askew,  but  restrained  himself. 

Presently  Merriam  began  to  enjoy  the  attention 
he  was  receiving.  If  one  must  play  a  part,  it  is 
pleasant  to  have  an  audience.  It  helped  him  to  keep 
his  eyes  off  Mollie  June.  He  began  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  smoking  of  his  cigarette.  He  handled 
it  with  nonchalant  grace.  He  exhaled  smoke 
through  his  nostrils.  He  recalled  an  envied  ac- 
complishment of  his  college  days  and  carefully  blew 
a  couple  of  tolerably  perfect  smoke  rings.  And  he 
wished  that  Mollie  June  would  turn  and  see  him 
in  his  evening  clothes. 

Presently  the  clerical  gentleman,  after  an  earnest 


FKIENDLY  STKANGEKS  21 

colloquy  with  the  square- jawed  one,  rose  and  came 
across  to  Merriam's  table,  while  the  other  two  now 
openly  watched. 

The  priest  rested  two  white  hands  on  the  edge 
of  the  table  and  bent  over  him  with  a  friendly 
smile. 

"Will  you  pardon  a  frank  question  from  a 
stranger?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  guess  a  question  won't  hurt  me,"  said  Mer- 
riam. 

At  this  simple  reply  the  cleric  straightened  up 
quickly  as  if  startled  and  looked  at  Merriam  closely 
and  curiously.  Then  he  said : 

"Are  you  by  any  chance  related  to  Senator  Nor- 
man? " 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  said  Merriam. 

"  May  I  ask  what  the  relationship  is?  " 

Merriam  told  him. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  priest.  "  The  resemblance 
is  really  remarkable.  And  we  saw  you  looking  at 
Mrs.  Norman.  Do  you  know  her?  " 

"  Yes.  I  knew  her  before — before  she — was 
married." 

"  I  see.    Thank  you  so  much." 

The  inquisitive  priest  returned  to  his  friends, 
who  appeared  to  listen  intently  to  his  report. 

At  the  same  time  Waiter  No.  73  arrived  with 
Merriam's  steak  and  salad. 

He  ate  self-consciously,  feeling  himself  still  un- 
der observation  from  the  other  table.  But  when 
he  was  half  way  through  his  salad  his  attention  was 


22        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

effectually  distracted  from  those  watchers.  FOP 
Mollie  June  and  her  companion  had  risen  to 
go. 

Merriam  put  down  his  fork  and  looked  at  her. 
She  was  really  beautiful  to  any  eyes — so  fresh  and 
young  and  alive  amid  the  tawdry  ennui  of  her  sur- 
roundings, a  human  girl  among  the  labouring 
ghosts  of  a  danse  macabre.  To  Merriam  she  was — 
what  you  will — radiant,  divine.  He  wished  he  had 
not  lost  a  moment  from  looking  at  her  since  he 
first  saw  her. 

A  waiter  had  brought  a  fur  cloak  and  now  held 
it  for  her.  As  she  adjusted  it  about  her  shoulders 
she  glanced  around  and  saw  Merriam. 

For  a  moment  she  looked  straight  at  him.  Mer- 
riam would  have  sworn  that  her  colour  heightened 
ever  so  little  and  then  paled.  She  smiled  a  mechan- 
ical little  smile,  bowed  slightly,  spoke  to  her  com' 
panion,  and  threaded  her  way  quickly  among  tables 
to  an  exit. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon !  " 

Merriam  started  and  looked  up — to  find  the 
black-eyed,  white-bosomed  woman  from  the  other 
table  standing  beside  him.  He  was  conscious  of  a 
faint  fragrance,  which  a  more  sophisticated  person 
would  have  recognised  as  that  of  an  extremely  ex- 
pensive perfume,  widely  advertised  under  the  name 
of  a  famous  opera  singer. 

He  rose  mechanically,  dropping  his  napkin. 

"  No,  no,"  she  smiled.  "  Won't  you  sit  down — 
and  let  me  sit  down  a  moment,  too?  " 


FRIENDLY  STRANGERS  23 

She  took  the  chair  opposite  him. 

"  My  name  is  Alicia  Wayward,"  she  said.  There 
was  a  kind  of  deliberate  sweetness  in  her  tone. 

John  Merriam  got  back  somehow  into  his  chair 
and  looked  at  her,  but  did  not  reply.  His  eyes  saw 
the  face  of  Mollie  June,  peeping  out  of  her  furs,  as 
on  that  last  night  at  Riceville,  her  changing  colour, 
her  mechanical  smile,  and  the  hurrying  away  with- 
out giving  him  a  chance  to  go  to  her  for  a  single 
word. 

"  Won't  you  tell  me  your  name?  "  said  Alicia, 
with  the  barest  suggestion  in  her  voice  of  sharp- 
ness in  the  midst  of  sweet. 

"  John  Merriam." 

"And  you  are  a  second  cousin  of  Senator  Nor- 
man? " 

"  Yes." 

"  I  am  an  old  friend  of  Senator  Norman's,"  said 
Alicia.  "  We  are  all  friends  of  his."  She  nodded 
towards  the  other  table.  "And  we  should  very 
much  like  to  have  a  little  private  talk  with  you 
about  a  very  important  matter. — How  do  you  do, 
Simpson?  " 

Merriam  looked  up  again.  Waiter  No.  73  was 
standing  over  them.  But  he  was  a  transformed  be- 
ing. The  ramrod  had  somehow  been  extracted  from 
his  spine,  and  his  stern  features  were  trans- 
figured in  an  expression  of  happy  and  ingratiating 
servility. 

"  Very  well,  Miss  Alicia,"  he  said. 

"  Simpson  used  to  be  my  father's  butler,"  ex- 


24        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

plained  Miss  Wayward.  "  We've  never  had  so  good 
a  butler  since." 

"  Thank  you,  Miss  Alicia,"  said  Simpson  fer- 
vently. 

"  Send  me  the  head  waiter,"  said  Miss  Wayward. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Alicia,"  and  Simpson  departed  al- 
most with  alacrity. 

"  You  are  just  ready  for  your  dessert,  I  see,"  said 
Alicia.  "  I  am  going  to  ask  the  head  waiter  to 
change  us  both  to  one  of  the  private  rooms  and  give 
us  Simpson  to  wait  on  us.  Then  I  can  present  you 
to  my  friends,  and  we  can  have  the  private  talk  I 
spoke  of.  You  don't  mind,  do  you?  " 

Merriam  thought  of  the  "  Follies."  But  the  idea 
of  the  "  Follies "  bored  him  after  seeing  Mollie 
June.  And  one  cannot  refuse  a  lady.  He  re- 
captured some  fraction  of  his  manners. 

"  I  shall  be  pleased,"  he  said. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Alicia,  with  augmented 
sweetness. 


CHAPTER  IV 

AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER 


head  waiter  arrived.     Could  they  be  re- 
A     moved  to  a  private  dining-room?    Most  cer- 
tainly they  could.    Yes,  Simpson  should  serve  them. 
Obviously  anything  that  Miss  Alicia  Wayward  de- 
sired could  be  done,  must  be  done,  and  it  was  done. 

They  ordered  ices  and  cafe  noir. 

"And  a  liqueur?  "  suggested  Alicia. 

Merriam  assented. 

"  What  should  you  prefer?  " 

Now  Merriam  knew  the  name  of  just  one 
liqueur.  He  made  prompt  use  of  that  solitary 
scrap  of  information. 

"Benedictine,  perhaps,"  he  suggested,  as  who 
should  say,  "  Out  of  all  the  world's  vintages  my 
"  mature  choice  among  liqueurs  is  Benedictine." 

"Good,"  smiled  Alicia.  (I  am  afraid  she  was 
not  effectually  deceived.  ) 

Merriam  was  introduced  first  to  Father  Murray. 

"  He  isn't  a  real  Father,"  said  Alicia.  "  He's  not 
a  Komanist.  Only  a  paltry  Anglican.  But  he's 
so  very,  very  High  Church  that  a  layman  can 
hardly  tell  the  difference." 

Father  Murray  was  deprecatory  but  unruffled. 
A  Christian  priest  must  forgive  all  things. 

25 
\ 


26        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  This  is  Mr.  Philip  Rockwell  of  the  Reform 
League,"  said  Alicia.  "His  fame  has  doubtless 
reached  you.  '  One-Thing-at-a-Time  Rockwell.' ' 

His  fame  had  not  reached  Merriam,  but  the  latter 
bowed  and  shook  hands  as  though  it  had,  instinc- 
tively meeting  the  stare  in  the  other  man's  eyes  with 
an  unblinking  steadiness  of  his  own. 

After  the  introductions  Merriam  glanced  about 
him  with  perhaps  insufficiently  concealed  curiosity. 
He  had  never  been  in  a  private  dining-room  before, 
and  this  adventure  was  beginning  to  interest  him. 
It  was  better  than  spending  his  evening — his  one 
evening — in  sad  thoughts  of  Mollie  June. 

The  room  was  just  large  enough  to  afford  com- 
fortable space  for  a  table  for  four  persons,  with  a 
small  sideboard  to  serve  from.  It  was  really  rather 
pretty.  Subdued  purple  hangings  at  the  door  and 
windows  and  a  frieze  of  small  peacocks  above  the 
plate  rail  indicated  its  affiliation,  so  to  speak,  with 
the  Peacock  Cabaret.  There  were  attractive  French 
prints  in  garland  frames  on  the  walls.  The  table 
was  charmingly  laid,  with  a  bowl  of  yellow  roses 
in  the  center,  and  the  ices  were  already  served.  On 
the  sideboard  the  coffee  in  a  silver  pot  was  bubbling 
over  an  alcohol  flame,  and  there  was  a  long  bottle 
which  Merriam  correctly  interpreted  as  the  con- 
tainer of  his  choice  among  liqueurs. 

"  This  is  much  cosier,  isn't  it?  "  said  Alicia. 

She  took  the  head  of  the  table. 

"  Father  Murray  shall  sit  opposite  me,"  she  said, 
"  to  see  that  I  behave.  You,  Mr.  Merriman,  shall 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER       27 

sit  on  my  right,  as  the  guest  of  honour.  That  leaves 
this  place  for  you,  Philip.  Reformers  must  be  con- 
tent with  what  they  can  get." 

Merriam  mustered  the  gallantry  to  hold  Alicia's 
chair  for  her,  and  was  warmed  by  the  approving 
smile  with  which  she  thanked  him.  He  had  not 
especially  liked  Alicia  at  first,  but  she  grew  upon 
him. 

They  consumed  ices,  and  Alicia  conversed,  in  the 
sprightly  fashion  she  affected,  with  Merriam.  The 
other  two  men  hardly  participated  at  all. 

In  the  course  of  that  conversation  Alicia  art- 
lessly, tactfully,  but  efficiently  pumped  Merriam. 
By  the  time  Simpson  was  pouring  the  sweet- 
scented  wine  into  thimble-like  glasses  she — and  her 
companions — were  in  possession  of  all  the  sub- 
stantial facts  of  his  brief  biography  and  had 
guessed  the  secret  of  his  heart.  They  knew  of  his 
boyhood  on  the  farm,  of  his  father's  death,  and  his 
mother's  a  few  years  later,  of  his  college  days,  with 
something  of  their  athletic,  dramatic,  and  frater- 
nity incidents,  of  his  teaching  at  Riceville,  of  the 
Riceville  football  and  basket-ball  teams,  of  the  oc- 
casion for  this  trip  to  Chicago — and  of  Mollie  June. 

At  length  the  sherbet  glasses  were  removed  and 
some  of  the  coffees,  including  Merriam's,  refilled, 
and  they  all  lit  cigarettes.  Merriam  was  pleas- 
antly startled  when  Alicia  too  took  a  cigarette.  He 
had  read,  of  course,  of  women  smoking,  but  he  had 
never  seen  it,  or  expected  to  see  it  with  his  own 
eyes,  except  on  the  stage.  It  was  more  shocking 


28        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

to  his  secret  soul  than  any  amount  of  bosom  and 
back. 

"  You  need  not  wait,  Simpson,"  said  Alicia. 
"  We'll  ring  if  we  need  you  again." 

When  the  waiter  had  withdrawn  Philip  Bock- 
well  took  the  center  of  the  stage.  He  tilted  back 
in  his  chair  and  abruptly  began  to  talk.  Part  of 
the  time  he  looked  straight  ahead  of  him  as  if  ad- 
dressing an  audience,  but  now  and  again  he  turned 
his  head  and  aimed  his  discourse  straight  at  Mer- 
riam.  He  made  only  a  pretence  of  smoking. 

"  Mr.  Merriam,"  he  said,  "  by  a  curious  chance — 
a  freak  of  nature,  as  it  were — you,  who  have  thus 
far  taken  no  part  in  the  politics  of  the  State  and 
Nation,  are  in  a  position  to  render  a  great  service 
this  very  night  to  the  cause  of  Reform  and  inci- 
dentally to  Senator  and  Mrs.  Norman." 

"  How  so?  "  said  Merriam.  He  was  rather  on 
his  guard  against  Mr.  Philip  Rockwell. 

"  It  is  a  long  story,  perhaps,"  said  that  gentle- 
man. "  I  gathered  when  we  were  introduced  that 
you  had  heard  of  me.  But  I  was  not  sure  how 
much  you  have  heard.  I  am  at  the  present  time  the 
President  of  the  Reform  League  of  this  city  and  its 
guiding  and  moving  spirit." 

"And  endowed  with  the  superb  modesty  so  char- 
acteristic of  reformers,"  interjected  Alicia. 

The  reformer  paid  no  attention  to  this  frivolous 
parenthesis. 

"  Miss  Wayward,"  he  continued,  "  alluded  earlier 
to  my  sobriquet — l  One-Thing-at-a-Time  Rockwell.' 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER       29 

The  epithet  was  first  applied  to  me  derisively  by 
opposition  newspapers.  But  it  is  a  true  descrip- 
tion. Indeed  it  was  derived  from  my  frequent  use 
of  the  phrase  in  my  own  speeches.  I  believe  that 
to  be  successful,  practically  successful,  Reform 
must  center  its  efforts  on  one  thing  at  a  time — not 
waste  its  energies,  its  munitions,  so  to  speak,  by 
bombarding  the  whole  entrenched  line  of  evil  and 
privilege  at  once,  but  concentrate  its  fire  on  one 
exposed  position  after  another — take  that  one  posi- 
tion— accomplish  finally  one  definite  thing — and 
then  go  on  to  some  other  one  definite  thing.  Do 
you  get  me?  " 

Merriam  signified  that  he  comprehended. 

Father  Murray  was  more  enthusiastic.  "  It  is  a 
truly  splendid  idea,"  he  volunteered.  "  Since  we 
have  adopted  it,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Rock- 
well, the  Reform  League  has  really  begun  to  do 
things.  To  do  things!"  he  repeated,  with  an  al- 
most mysterious  emphasis. 

"At  the  present  time,"  Rockwell  resumed,  "  the 
one  thing  which  the  Reform  League  is  undertaking 
to  do  is  to  secure  decent  traction  conditions  in  this 
city — adequate  service.  We  have  so  far  succeeded 
that  we  have  forced  an  unfriendly  city  council  to 
pass  the  new  Traction  Ordinance.  You  are  familiar 
with  the  new  Ordinance,  Mr.  Merriam?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Merriam.  By  which  we  must  sup- 
pose he  meant  that  he  had  read  headlines  about  it 
in  the  Chicago  papers. 

"Those   rascals,"   continued   Rockwell,   "never 


30        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

would  have  passed  it — the  men  who  own  them 
would  never  have  permitted  them  to  pass  it,  no 
matter  how  unmistakable  the  demand  of  the  people 
might  be, — if  they  had  not  counted  on  one  thing." 

Merriam  perceived  that  an  interrogation  was  de- 
manded of  him  and  took  his  cue. 

"  What  is  that?  "  he  asked. 

"  They  are  counting,"  said  Eockwell  impress- 
ively, "  they  are  counting  on  Mayor  Black.  They 
have  believed  the  whole  time  that  he  can  be  de- 
pended on  to  veto  it.  And  they  are  right!  The 
scoundrels  usually  are.  The  Mayor,  as  every  one 
knows,  is  a  mere  puppet.  He  will  do  as  he  is  told. 
Only,  the  League  has  made  such  a  stir,  the  people 
are  so  tremendously  aroused,  that  he  is  frightened. 
And  so,  before  acting,  before  writing  the  veto, 
which  he  has  sense  enough  to  see  is  likely  to  mean 
political  suicide,  he  is  coming  here  to-night  to  see 
Senator  Norman,  to  get  his  instructions.  That's 
what  it  amounts  to.  Norman  holds  the  State  ma- 
chine in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  If  Norman  tells 
him  to  veto,  Black  will  veto.  It  may  be  bad  for  him 
with  the  voters  if  he  does  it,  but  it  would  be  certain 
political  death  for  a  man  like  him  to  cross  Norman. 
And  Norman  will  say, '  Veto! ' " 

"  I  see,"  said  Merriam. 

Which  was  hardly  true ;  he  did  not  as  yet  see  an 
inch  ahead  of  his  nose  into  this  thing,  but  he 
thought  it  sounded  well. 

"Where  do  I  come  in,  though? "  he  added,  bely- 
ing his  assumption  of  sagacity. 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER        31 

"  That's  my  very  next  point,"  said  Rockwell. 

His  chair  came  down  on  all  fours.  He  squared  it 
to  the  table,  laid  his  neglected  cigarette  aside,  put 
his  arms  on  the  cloth,  and  looked  very  straight  at 
Merriam. 

"  Are  you  aware,  Mr.  Merriam,  that  you  bear  a 
most  striking  physical  resemblance  to  Senator  Nor- 
man? " 

"  I  have  been  told  so,"  said  Merriam.  "  My 
mother  often  spoke  of  it.  And — Mrs.  Norman  men- 
tioned it  to  me  before  she  was  married.  I  have 
seen  his  pictures,  of  course,  in  the  papers.  I  have 
never  seen  him  in  person."  (This  was  true,  for 
John  Merriam  had,  quite  inexcusably,  stayed  away 
from  Mollie  June's  wedding.) 

"  He  has  never  seen  you,  then?  " 

"  He  probably  doesn't  know  of  my  existence." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  said  Rockwell.  "  The 
only  difficulty  then  is  Mrs.  Norman.  And  she  can 
be  eliminated." 

This  facile  elimination  of  Mollie  June  did  not 
make  an  irresistible  appeal  to  Merriam,  but  he  held 
his  tongue. 

Alicia  Wayward  saw  the  reformer's  mistake. 

"  Mr.  Rockwell  means,"  she  threw  in,  "  that  Mrs. 
Norman  can  be  shielded  from  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation." 

"Exactly,"  said  Rockwell  quickly.  "Mr.  Mer- 
riam," he  continued,  "  if  you  have  never  seen  the 
Senator  with  your  own  eyes,  you  can  have  no  reali- 
sation of  the  closeness  of  your  resemblance  to  him. 


32        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Hair,  eyes,  nose,  mouth,  size,  carriage,  manner, 
movement — it  is  truly  wonderful.  And  it  is  the 
same  with  your  voice.  Father  Murray  here  says  he 
fairly  jumped  when  you  first  spoke  to  him  out  in 
the  Cabaret  when  he  went  over  to  question  you." 

"  He  also  says,"  interrupted  Alicia,  as  if  mis- 
chievously, "  that  it  is  Providential." 

"  Please  do  not  be  irreverent,  Miss  Alicia,"  said 
the  priest.  "  It  does  surely  seem  Providential — on 
this  night  of  all  nights.  It  surely  seems  so." 

"  Well,"  said  Merriam,  a  trifle  bluntly  perhaps, 
"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that.  If  my 
cousin  and  I  look  so  much  alike  as  you  say,  no 
doubt  it's  quite  remarkable.  Still  such  things  hap- 
pen often  enough  in  families.  What  of  it?  " 

"  I  have  explained,"  said  Rockwell,  with  an  air  of 
much  patience,  "  that  Mayor  Black  is  coming  here, 
to  this  hotel,  to-night,  to  see  Senator  Norman  about 
the  Ordinance,  and  that  Norman  will  order  him  to 
veto  it.  We  thought  we  had  Norman  fixed,  but  he 
has  gone  over  to  the  magnates — as  he  always  does 
in  the  end !  Black  will  do  as  he  is  bid,  and  it  will 
be  a  death  blow.  We  can  never  pass  it  over  his 
veto.  It  means  the  total  ruin  of  five  years  of  work, 
involving  the  expenditure  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
dollars.  And  the  cause  of  Reform  in  this  city  will 
be  dead  for  years  to  come.  The  League  will  never 
survive,  if  we  fail  at  this  last  ditch.  It  will  col- 
lapse." 

"  In  short,"  said  Alicia  sweetly,  "  Mr.  Rockwell 
himself  will  collapse." 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER       33 

Rockwell  took  no  heed  of  her. 

"  Half  an  hour  ago,"  he  said,  "  I  was  sitting  yon- 
der in  the  Cabaret,  dining  with  Miss  Wayward  and 
Father  Murray.  I  was  eating  turtle  soup  and 
olives  " — he  laughed  theatrically, — "  but  I  was  a 
desperate  man.  I  had  no  hope,  no  interest  left  in 
life.  Then  I  looked  up  and  saw  you.  At  first  I  mis- 
took you  for  Senator  Norman — even  I,  who  have 
known  the  old  hypocrite  for  a  dozen  years.  I  stared 
at  you,  wondering  whether  I  should  go  over  and 
make  one  last  personal  appeal  to  you — to  him.  And 
then  I  realised  that  you  could  not  be  he.  For  I  knew 
positively  that  he  was  dining  in  his  room.  I  looked 
closer.  I  saw  that  you  were  really  a  younger  man 
— not  that  massaged,  laced  old  roue.  I  stared  on 
in  my  amazement,  till  Miss  Wayward  and  Father 
Murray  looked  too,  and  Miss  Wayward  said, '  Why, 
there's  Senator  Norman  now/  '  By  God ! '  said  I, 
'  perhaps  it  is ! '  Do  you  see,  Mr.  Merriam?  " 

"  No,"  said  Merriam,  "  I  don't." 

"Ah,  but  you  will,  you  must,"  said  Rockwell. 
"Listen!"  He  looked  at  his  watch.  ".It  is  now 
twenty  minutes  past  seven.  Norman  is  dining  in 
his  room.  There  is  a  man  with  him,  a  Mr.  Crockett 
— one  of  the  dozen  men  who  own  Chicago.  He  is  as 
much  interested  in  the  Ordinance  as  I  am — on  the 
other  side.  He  is  giving  Norman  his  instructions, 
for  the  Senator  is  Crockett's  puppet,  of  course,  as 
much  as  the  Mayor  is  Norman's.  Crockett  will 
leave  promptly  at  a  quarter  to  eight.  Mayor  Black 
is  due  at  eight." 


34        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  How  do  you  know  these  things?  "  interrupted 
Merriain. 

"  It  is  my  business  to  know  things,"  said  Rock- 
well. "  The  fact  is,"  he  added,  "  I  planned  to  burst 
in  on  Norman  and  Black  at  their  conference  and 
threaten  them  in  the  name  of  the  Reform  League. 
It  would  have  done  no  good,  but  I  owed  that  much 
to  the  League." 

"  And  to  yourself,"  said  Alicia  softly. 

"  And  to  myself,  yes !  "  said  Rockwell,  infinitesi- 
mally  pricked  at  last.  But  he  hurried  on : 

"At  ten  minutes  to  eight,  Mr.  Merriam,  I  will 
telephone  Norman.  I  will  pretend  to  be  old  Schu- 
bert, the  Mayor's  private  secretary.  He  has  a  dry, 
clipped  voice  that  is  easy  to  imitate.  I  will  say 
that  the  Mayor  is  sick  at  his  house.  I  will  imply 
that  he  is  drunk.  He  often  is.  I  will  say  he  is  not 
too  sick  to  veto  the  Ordinance  before  the  Council 
meets  at  nine,  but  that  he  insists  on  seeing  Senator 
Norman  before  he  does  it  and  asks  that  Norman 
come  out  to  his  house.  I  will  say  that  I  am  sending 
a  car  for  him.  Norman  will  curse,  but  he  will  go. 
He  is  under  orders,  too,  you  see.  At  five  minutes  to 
eight  we  will  send  up  word  that  Mayor  Black's  car 
is  waiting  for  Senator  Norman.  There  will  be  a 
car  waiting.  The  driver  will  be  Simpson." 

"  I  can  fix  it  with  the  hotel  people  to  get  him  off," 
said  Alicia  in  response  to  a  look  from  Merriam. 
"  He  was  a  chauffeur  once  for  a  while. — And  he  will 
do  anything  I  ask  him  to,"  she  added. 

"Norman  will  go  down  and  get  into  that  car. 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER       35 

He  will  be  driven,  not  to  the  Mayor's  house,  of 
course,  but  to — a  certain  flat,  where  he  will  be  de- 
tained for  several  hours — very  possibly  all  night." 

"  By  force?  "  asked  Merriam,  rather  sternly. 

"  Only  by  force  of  the  affections,"  said  Rockwell 
suavely.  "  The  flat  belongs,  for  the  time  being,  to 
a  certain  young  woman,  a  manicurist  by  profession, 
who  is  undoubtedly  very  pretty  and  in  whom  Nor- 
man— takes  an  interest.  I  happen  to  know  that  he 
pays  the  rent  of  the  flat." 

Rockwell  paused,  but  Merriam  made  no  reply. 
He  blushed,  subcutaneously  at  any  rate,  for  Alicia 
and  Father  Murray.  The  latter  indeed  affected  in- 
attention to  this  portion  of  Mr.  Rockwell's  dis- 
course. But  Alicia  Wayward  made  no  pretence  of 
either  misunderstanding  or  horror. 

In  Merriam's  mind  a  slight  embarrassment 
quickly  gave  place  to  anger.  That  George  Norman 
after  three  years — how  much  sooner  who  could  tell? 
— should  leave  Mollie  June  for  a — his  mind  paused 
before  a  word  too  ancient  and  too  frank  for  profes- 
sorial sensibilities. 

Rockwell  quickly  resumed : 

"As  soon  as  Norman  has  gone  I  will  take  you  to 
his  room.  We  will  put  his  famous  crimson  smok- 
ing jacket  on  you  and  establish  you  in  his  big  arm- 
chair with  a  cigar  and  some  whiskey  and  soda  be- 
side you.  When  Black  comes  he  will  find  Senator 
Norman — you.  All  you  will  have  to  do  is  to  be  curt 
and  sulky,  damn  him  a  bit,  and  tell  him  to  sign  the 
Ordinance.  He'll  never  suspect  you.  As  a  matter 


36        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

of  fact,  lie  doesn't  know  the  Senator  well — never 
spoke  with  him  privately  above  three  times  in  his 
life.  We'll  have  only  side  lights  on.  He  won't 
stay.  He'll  be  mightily  relieved  about  the  Ordi- 
nance and  in  a  hurry  to  get  away.  Then  you  your- 
self can  get  away  and  catch  your  train  for — 
for " 

"  Riceville,"  supplied  Alicia. 

"  That  will  be  a  real  adventure  for  you,  young 
man,  and  you  will  have  saved  the  cause  of  Reform 
in  the  city  of  Chicago ! " 

John  Merriam  smiled,  frostily. 

"  The  reasons,  then,  Mr.  Rockwell,  why  I  should 
fraudulently  impersonate  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  who  happens  to  be  my  cousin,  and  in  his 
name  act  in  an  important  matter  directly  contrary 
to  his  own  wishes  are  for  the  fun  of  the  adventure 
and  to  save  your  Reform  League  from  a  setback. 
Is  that  correct?" 

"  Philip,"  said  Alicia  quickly,  "  you  and  Father 
Murray  go  for  a  walk.  I  want  to  have  a  little  talk 
with  Mr.  Merriam  alone.  Come  back  in  twenty 
minutes." 

The  implication  of  her  last  phrase  was  distinctly 
flattering  to  Merriam  if  he  had  understood  it. 
Alicia  Wayward  would  not  have  asked  for  more 
than  ten  minutes  with  most  men. 

Rockwell  smiled  with  lowered  eyelids — a  smile 
which  it  was  certainly  a  mistake  for  him  to  permit 
himself,  for  it  could  not  and  did  not  fail  to  put 
Merriam  on  his  guard — against  Alicia. 


AN  UNSCRUPULOUS  REFORMER       37 

"  Come,  Murray,"  said  Rockwell  rising,  "  I  should 
like  a  breath,  of  real  air,  shouldn't  you?  And  when 

Miss  Wayward  commands "  He  waved  his 

hand  grandly.  "  Au  revoir !  " 

And  he  and  the  priest  hastily  departed. 


CHAPTER  V 

ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN 

'"THAKE  another  cigarette,  won't  you,  Mr.  Mer- 

A  riam?  "  said  Alicia,  as  the  curtain  at  the 
door  fell  behind  Rockwell  and  Father  Murray. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam. 

He  was  excited,  of  course.  All  the  stimulations 
of  his  evening,  including  more  coffee  than  he  was 
used  to  and  an  unaccustomed  taste  of  wine  and 
mystery  and  intrigue,  could  not  fail  to  tell  on  the 
blood  of  youth.  But  he  felt  extraordinarily  calm, 
and  he  was  not  in  the  least  afraid  of  Alicia.  He 
had  not  fully  made  up  his  mind  about  the  proposed 
adventure,  but  Alicia  knew  several  things  about  the 
wantings  of  men. 

"  Let  me  light  it  for  you,"  she  pursued. 

She  struck  a  match,  which  somehow  she  already 
had  out  of  its  box,  put  out  a  white  hand  and  arm, 
took  the  cigarette  from  his  fingers,  put  it  to  her  own 
lips  and  lighted  it,  and  handed  it  back  to  him. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam  again,  just  a  little 
confused.  Hesitatingly,  with  an  undeniable  trace 
of  thrill,  he  put  the  cigarette  to  his  own  lips.  Poor 
boy !  It  was  an  uneven  contest ! 

Alicia  deftly  moved  her  chair  to  the  corner  of  the 
38 


ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN      39 

table,  bringing  it  not  very  close  but  much  closer  to 
Merriam's.  Close  enough  for  him  to  catch  the 
faint,  unfamiliar  perfume.  She  put  out  her  hand 
again  and  drew  one  of  the  yellow  roses  from  their 
bowl.  She  rested  both  arms  on  the  table  and 
played  with  the  rose,  drawing  it  through  her  fingers 
and  up  and  down  one  white,  rounded  forearm. 

"  Mr.  Merriam,"  she  said,  "  perhaps  you  have 
wondered  why  I  am  in  this  thing." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  he  had  neglected  to  be  curious 
on  that  point,  but  now  he  was. 

"  Yes,"  he  said. 

"  Mr.  Rockwell  converted  me.  Oh,  I  can  see  you 
don't  like  him.  You  think  he  is  hard  and  un- 
scrupulous and  self-seeking.  Well,  he  is.  All  men 
are — at  least,  almost  all  men  are" — she  glanced 
at  Merriam.  "  But  he  is  a  genuine  reformer  for  all 
that.  He  is  heart  and  soul  for  what  he  calls  the 
People.  He  works  tremendously  for  them  all  his 
time.  And  he  is  shrewd  and  fearless." 

Now  it  is  probable  that  Alicia's  little  character 
sketch  presented  a  very  just  picture  of  Philip  Kock- 
well.  But  it  did  not  appeal  to  Merriam  as  true, 
much  less  as  likable.  He  was  too  young.  He  still 
wanted  his  heroes  all  heroic  and  his  villains  naught 
but  black  and  red  with  almost  visible  horns  and 
tail. 

He  did  not  reply.  He  could  not,  however,  remove 
his  eyes  from  the  felicitous  meanderings  of  the  yel- 
low rose. 

"  Well,"  sighed  Alicia,  "  I  was  going  to  tell  you 


40        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

how  Mr.  Bockwell  converted  me.  You  see,  my 
fatker — but  you  don't  know  who  my  father  is,  do 
you?  The  newspapers  always  refer  to  him  as  i  the 
billionaire  brewer.'  They  like  the  alliteration,  I 
suppose.  He's  very  busy  now  converting  all  his 
plants  for  the  manufacture  of  near-beer."  (She 
laughed  as  if  that  were  a  good  joke. )  "  His  young- 
est sister,  my  Aunt  Geraldine,  was  Senator  Nor- 
man's first  wife.  So  I  know  George  Norman  well. 
I  was  quite  a  favourite  of  his  when  he  used  to  come 
to  our  house  before  poor  Aunt  Jerry  died.  So 
Philip  wanted  me  to  '  use  my  influence '  with  Mr. 
Norman  about  his  precious  Ordinance.  I  wasn't 
much  interested  at  first.  I  hadn't  ridden  in  a 
street  car,  of  course,  in  years." 

"  Hadn't  you?  "  said  Merriam,  quite  at  a  loss. 

"  No.  When  I  go  out  I  take  either  the  limousine 
or  the  electric.  So  I  really  didn't  know  much  about 
conditions,  except,  of  course,  from  the  cartoons 
about  strap-hangers  in  the  newspapers.  Philip 
saw  that  that  was  why  I  was  unsympathetic.  So 
he  dared  me  to  go  for  a  street-car  ride  with  him. 
Of  course  I  wouldn't  take  a  dare. 

"  It  was  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  We 
took  the  limousine  down  to  Wabash  and  Madison. 
There  Philip  made  me  get  out  on  the  street  corner. 
It  was  horrid  weather — a  cold,  blowy  spring  rain. 
But  Philip  was  hard  as  a  rock.  He  told  the  chauf- 
feur to  drive  to  the  corner  of  Cottage  Grove  and 
Thirty-Ninth  Street  and  wait  for  us.  And  we 
waited  for  a  car.  It  was  terrible.  We  stood  out  in 


ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN      41 

the  street  under  the  Elevated — by  one  of  the  posts, 
you  know — for  a  little  protection  from  the  train. 
We  hadn't  any  umbrella.  The  wir  i  tore  at  my 
skirts  and  my  hair.  The  trains  going  by  overhead 
nearly  burst  your  ears  with  noise.  And  automo- 
biles and  great  motor  trucks  crashed  past  within  a 
few  inches  of  us  and  splashed  mud  and  nearly 
stifled  us  with  gasoline  smells.  And  a  crowd  of 
other  people  got  around  us  and  knocked  into  us  and 
walked  on  our  feet  and  stuck  umbrellas  in  our  eyes. 
For  a  long  time  no  car  at  all  came.  Then  three  or 
four  came  together,  but  they  were  all  jammed  full 
to  the  steps,  so  that  we  couldn't  get  on. 

"  I  was  ready  to  give  up.     I  told  Philip  so. 

"  '  Let's  go  into  Mandel's,'  I  begged, '  and  you  can 
call  a  taxi.' 

" '  No  you  don't,'  he  said.  '  Here,  we  can  get  on 
this  one.' 

"  Another  car  had  stopped  about  twenty  feet 
from  us.  We  joined  a  kind  of  football  rush  for  the 
rear  end.  I  tripped  on  my  skirt  when  I  tried  to 
climb  the  steps,  but  Philip  caught  me  by  the  arm 
and  dragged  me  on,  as  though  I  had  been  a  sack  of 
flour. 

"  Then  for  a  long  time  we  couldn't  get  inside  but 
had  to  stand  on  the  platform  wedged  like  olives  in 
a  bottle.  It  was  so  dark  and  cold  and  noisy,  and 
everybody  was  so  wet  and  crushed  and  smelly.  A 
man  beside  me  smelled  so  strong  of  tobacco  and 
whiskey  and  of — not  having  had  a  bath  for  a  long 
time,  that  I  was  nearly  ill.  And  I  thought  a  poor 


42        MOLLIE?S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

little  shop  girl  on  the  other  side  of  me  was  going  to 
faint. 

"  After  a  long  time  some  people  got  out  at  the 
other  end  of  the  car — at  Twelfth  Street,  Philip 
says, — and  some  of  us  squeezed  inside  into  the 
crowded  aisle.  Inside  it  was  warm — hot,  in  fact, — 
but  still  smellier.  Philip  got  me  a  strap,  and  I 
hung  on  to  it.  I  don't  care  for  strap-hanger  jokes 
any  more.  It's  terribly  tiring,  and  it  pulls  your 
waist  all  out  of  shape. 

"  *  Bet  you  won't  get  a  seat,'  grinned  Philip. 

"  Of  course  I  was  bound  then  that  I  would.  I 
looked  about.  Some  of  the  men  who  were  seated 
were  reading  papers  the  way  they  are  in  the  car- 
toons. Others  just  sat  and  stared  in  front  of  them. 
I  didn't  blame  them  much.  They  looked  tired,  too. 
But  I  had  to  get  a  seat  to  spite  Philip.  The  young 
man  in  the  one  before  which  I  was  standing,  or 
hanging,  looked  rather  nice.  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  get  his  seat.  I  had  to  look  down  inside  his  news- 
paper and  crowd  against  his  legs.  At  last,  after 
looking  up  at  me  three  or  four  times,  he  got  up  with 
a  jerk  as  if  he  had  just  noticed  me  and  took  off  his 
hat,  and  I  smiled  at  him  and  at  Philip  and  sat 
down.  But  he  kept  staring  at  me  so  that  I  wished 
I  had  let  him  alone. 

"  I  made  the  poor  little  shop  girl  sit  on  my  lap. 
Nobody  gave  her  a  seat.  I  suppose  she  wouldn't 
work  for  it  the  way  I  did.  She  was  a  pretty  little 
thing,  too.  Just  a  tiny  bit  like  Mollie  June  Nor- 
man. Not  so  pretty,  of  course,  but  the  same  type. 


ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN      43 

"  Then  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  wait  till  we 
got  to  Thirty-Ninth  Street.  Ages  and  ages.  They 
ought  to  have  been  able  to  go  to  the  South  Pole  and 
back. 

"  When  we  did  get  there  I  put  the  little  girl  in 
my  seat — she  was  going  to  Eighty-First  Street,  poor 
little  thing, — and  Philip  and  I  got  out  and  went 
home  in  the  limousine,  and  he  told  me  all  about  how 
the  Ordinance  would  better  things,  and  I  promised 
to  help  him  if  I  could." 

"And  you  did? "  said  Merriam.  He  was 
touched — whether  by  Alicia's  own  sufferings  in  the 
course  of  her  remarkable  exploration  or  by  those  of 
the  little  shop  girl  who  looked  like  Mollie  June, 
does  not,  perhaps,  matter.  He  now  quite  fully 
liked  Alicia.  He  saw  that,  in  spite  of  her  extreme 
decollete  and  her  cigarettes,  she  had  a  generous 
heart. 

"  I  tried  to,"  replied  Alicia.  "  I  saw  George  Nor- 
man, and  I  did  my  best — my  very  best.  But  he 
wouldn't  promise  anything.  He  only  laughed  and 
tried  to  kiss  me." 

"  Tried  to  kiss  you ! "  echoed  Merriam,  naively 
aghast. 

"Yes,"  said  Alicia,  with  her  eyes  demurely  on 
the  rose  between  her  fingers. 

And  John  Merriam,  looking  at  her,  grasped 
clearly  the  possibility  that  a  "  boy  senator  "  with 
whom  Alicia  had  done  her  very  best  might  try  to 
kiss  her. 

"  So  that  is  one  reason  why  I  am  in  it  to  the 


44        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

death,"  Alicia  went  on,  "  because  George  Norman — 
wouldn't  listen  to  me.  And  I  don't  want  Philip  to 
fail." 

She  laid  one  hand  quickly  over  one  of  Merriam's 
hands,  startling  him  so  that  he  nearly  drew  his 
away.  "  I  love  him,"  she  said,  and  her  eyes  shone 
effulgently  into  Merriam's.  "He  hasn't  much 
money,  and  he  is  hard  and — and  conceited,  but  he  is 
courageous.  He  dares  anything.  He  dared  to 

take  me  on  that  street-car  ride.    He  would  dare  to 

? 

burst  in  on  the  Senator  and  Mayor  Black  to-night. 
He  dares  think  up  this  plan.  A  woman  loves  a 
Man." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Alicia  pronounced  "  man  " 
with  a  capital  letter,  and  she  looked  challengingly 
at  Merriam. 

"  We  are  to  be  married  next  month,"  she  added. 

"  Oh ! "  gasped  Merriam,  his  eyes  staring  in  spite 
of  himself  at  her  hand  that  lay  on  his. 

The  hand  flew  away  as  quickly  as  it  had  alighted, 
but  he  still  felt  its  soft  coolness  on  his  fingers  as  she 
said  : 

"  Of  course  all  this  is  why  /  am  in  it,  not  why  you 
should  be.  You  can't  do  it  just  to  please  me.  But 
v  you  really  ought  to  think  of  all  those  poor  people, 
like  the  little  shop  girl — all  the  tired  men  and 
women — millions  of  them,  Philip  says — who  have 
to  endure  that  torture  every  night  after  long  days 
of  hard  work.  It's  truly  awful,  and  it  might  all  be 
so  much  better  if  we  only  got  the  Ordinance.  You 
could  get  it  for  them  in  one  little  half  hour !  " 


ALICIA  AND  THE  MOTIVES  OF  MEN      45 

She  looked  hopefully  at  Merriam.  He  was  in 
fact  hesitant.  To  have  the  fun  of  the  thing,  to 
gratify  this  strange,  attractive  Alicia,  and  to  render 
an  important  service  to  the  population  of  a  great 
city — it  was  tempting. 

"  There's  another  thing,"  Alicia  hurried  on. 
"  You  knew  Mollie  June  Norman.  She  was  one  of 
your  students.  I  think  you  ought  to  do  it  for  her 
sake." 

"  Why  so?  "  Merriam's  question  came  swift  and 
sharp. 

"  Because  if  Senator  Norman  kills  the  Ordinance 
it  will  be  his  ruin.  It  will  cost  him  Chicago's  vote 
in  the  next  election,  and  he  can't  win  on  the  Down- 
State  vote  alone." 

"  I  thought  Rockwell  said  the  League  would  col- 
lapse." 

Possibly  Alicia  had  forgotten  this.  But  she  only 
shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  It  may  or  it  mayn't.  But  either  way  the  people 
are  aroused.  Philip  swears  they  will  beat  Norman 
if  he  betrays  them  now.  He  is  sure  they  can  and 
will.  And  if  the  '  boy  senator  '  were  unseated  and 
had  to  retire  to  private  life  it  would  be  terrible  for 
Mollie  June.  He's  bad  enough  to  live  with  as  it  is." 

At  this  point  Merriam  was  visited  by  a  sudden 
and  splendid  idea.  Since  he  did  not  disclose  it  to 
Alicia,  I  feel  in  honour  bound  to  conceal  it  for  the 
present  from  the  reader. 

Alicia  detected  its  presence  in  his  eyes  and  judi- 
ciously kept  silent. 


46        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT) 

It  took  about  ten  seconds  for  that  idea  to  grow 
from  nothingness  into  full  flower.  For  perhaps 
five  seconds  longer  Merriam  inwardly  contemplated 
its  unique  beauty.  Then  he  said : 

"I'll  do  it!" 


CHAPTER  VI 

STAGE-SETTING 

ALICIA  gave  him  no  time  for  reconsideration 
or  after-thoughts. 

"  Good !  "  she  cried,  "  I  was  sure  you  would." 

She  was  on  her  feet  in  an  instant,  and  as  he  got 
to  his  she  held  out  her  hand.  Merriam  took  it — to 
shake  hands  on  their  bargain  was  his  thought.  But 
Alicia  never  exactly  shook  hands.  She  touched  or 
pressed  or  squeezed  according  to  circumstances. 
On  this  occasion  it  was  a  warm,  clinging  squeeze. 
Her  other  hand  patted  Merriam's  shoulder. 

"I  was  sure  you  would,"  she  repeated.  "No 
Man  " — again  the  capital  letter  was  unmistakable 
— "  could  have  resisted — the — the  opportunity." 

The  curtain  at  the  door  was  lifted,  and  Philip 
Rockwell's  voice  said:  "May  I  come  in?  The 
twenty  minutes  are  up." 

They  were.  Just  up.  Alicia  had  done  her  part 
in  exactly  the  fraction  of  an  hour  she  had  given  her- 
self. No  vaudeville  act  could  have  been  more  pre- 
cisely timed. 

"  Yes.  Come  in,  dear,"  said  Alicia.  "  Mr.  Mer- 
riam will  do  it.  We  were  just  shaking  hands  on  it." 

Rockwell  crossed  the  room  in  a  rush  and  caught 

47 


48        HOLME'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Merriam's  hand  as  Alicia  relinquished  it.  He 
pumped  vigorously.  In  Ms  eyes  shone  the  unmis- 
takable light  of  that  genuine  enthusiasm  which 
Alicia  had  described  to  her  skeptical  auditor. 

"  You're  the  right  sort,"  he  cried.  "  You  are  do- 
ing a  great  thing,  Mr.  Merriam.  You  will  never 
regret  it.  But  I  can't  thank  you  now,"  he  added, 
dropping  Merriam's  hand  in  mid-air,  so  to  speak. 
"  It's  ten  minutes  of  eight.  That  money-bag, 
Crockett,  came  out  of  the  elevator  just  before  I 
came  back.  I  have  a  car  at  the  Ladies'  Entrance." 

"  With  Simpson?  "  asked  Alicia. 

"  Yes.  I  had  to  get  things  ready.  The  time  was 
so  short.  I  fixed  the  head  waiter.  Simpson  seemed 
ready  enough.  Has  some  old  grudge  against  Nor- 
man, I  think." 

"  Yes,"  said  Alicia,  "  he  has.  I'm  a  little  afraid — 
I  wish  I  could  have  seen  him.  Never  mind.  It 
can't  be  helped.  Where's  Father  Murray?  " 

"  Watching  to  buttonhole  the  Mayor  if  he  should 
come  too  soon." 

He  looked  critically  for  a  moment  at  Merriam, 
seemed  satisfied,  and  crossed  to  the  telephone  on  the 
sideboard. 

"  I'll  ring  up  the  curtain,"  he  said. 

He  laughed  boyishly  in  Ms  excitement  and  new 
hope.  He  seemed  very  different  now  from  the  hard- 
eyed,  middle-aged  fellow  of  an  hour  ago.  Merriam 
saw  how  Alicia  might  admire  him. 

"  Give  me  Room  Three-Two-Three,"  he  said  into 
the  telephone,  Ms  eyes  smiling  at  them. 


STAGE-SETTING  49 

A  moment  later  a  harsh,  dry  old  man's  voice  was 
saying : 

"  Is  this  Senator  Norman? — This  is  Mr.  Schu- 
bert, private  secretary  to  Mayor  Black.  The  Mayor 
is  sick. — I  can't  help  it,  sir.  He's  sick  all  right. 
He's  out  here  at  his  house. — Yes,  he  can  veto  the 
Ordinance  all  right  if  it's  necessary.  But  he  won't 
do  it  without  seeing  you  first.  He  wants  you  to 
come  out.  He's  sent  a  car  for  you.  It  ought  to  be 
down  there  at  the  Ladies'  Entrance  by  now. — No, 
it  won't  do  any  good  to  call  him  up.  I'm  here  at 
his  house  now.  He's  in  bed.  And  he  won't  veto 
unless  he  sees  you.  Really,  sir,  if  you'll  pardon 
me,  you'd  better  come. — Thank  you,  sir !  " 

Rockwell  clicked  the  receiver  triumphantly  into 
its  hook. 

"  That's  done,"  he  said.  "  Alicia,  dear,  go  up  to 
the  lobby  on  the  women's  side  and  watch  the  hall- 
way leading  to  the  Ladies'  Entrance.  Norman 
should  pass  out  that  way  within  five  minutes. 
Follow  him  far  enough  to  make  sure  that  Simpson 
gets  him.  And  then  let  us  know.  Meanwhile  I'll 
coach  Mr.  Merriam  a  little." 

"  Right,"  said  Alicia. 

She  moved  to  the  door.  The  eyes  of  both  men 
followed  her.  When  Alicia  moved  the  eyes  of  men 
did  follow.  And  she  knew  it.  At  the  doorway  she 
turned  and  blew  a  kiss,  which  might  be  said  to  fall 
with  gracious  impartiality  between  her  lover  and 
the  younger  man.  It  was  a  pretty  exit. 

"  She's  a  splendid  girl,"  said  Rockwell,  his  eyes 


50        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

lingering  on  the  curtain  that  had  cut  her  off  from 
them. 

"Yes,"  said  Merriam. 

Eockwell,  still  by  the  sideboard,  reached  for  the 
long  bottle. 

"  Have  another  glass  of  this?  " 

"  I  don't  mind,"  said  Merriam.  The  fact  is,  a  bit 
of  stage  fright  had  come  in  for  him  when  Alicia 
went  out. 

"  There's  not  much  I  can  tell  you,"  Eockwell  said, 
as  he  poured  out  the  yellow  fluid.  "  You'll  have  to 
depend  mostly  on  the  inspiration  of  the  moment. 
You  look  the  part  all  right.  Your  voice  is  all  right, 
too.  Act  as  grumpy  as  you  like.  Damn  him  about 
a  bit. — You  can  swear?  "  he  asked  hastily.  A  sud- 
den horrible  doubt  of  pedagogical  capabilities  had 
crossed  his  mind. 

Now  Merriam  was  not  a  profane  man,  but  some 
of  his  fraternity  brethren  had  been.  Also  he  re- 
membered the  vituperative  exploits  of  his  .football 
coach  between  halves  when  the  game  was  going 
badly. 

"  Swear?  "  he  cried,  as  harshly  as  possible.  "  Of 
course  I  can  swear,  you  damn  fool !  " 

For  three  seconds  Rockwell  was  startled.  Then 
he  laughed. 

"  Fine !  "  he  cried.  "  You'll  do  it !  All  there  is 
to  it,  really,  is  to  tell  him  to  sign  the  Ordinance  and 
to  get  out.  He  may  ask  about  Crockett.  If  he 
wants  to  know  why  he's  changed  his  mind,  tell 
him  it's  none  of  his  damn  business.  If  he  refers 


STAGE-SETTING  51 

to  a  Madame  Couteau,  you  must  look  pleased. 
She's  the  pretty  little  manicurist  whom  Norman 
will  be  on  his  way  to  visit.  Black  knows  of  that 
affair,  and  he  knows  Norman  likes  to  talk  about  it. 
So  he  may  drag  it  in  with  the  idea  of  getting  on 
your  blind  side.  You  can  tell  him  to  shut  up,  of 
course,  but  you  must  act  gratified." 

"  Yes,"  said  Merriam  in  a  noncommittal  tone. 

But  Rockwell  did  not  notice.  He  was  sipping 
the  Benedictine,  ivith  his  mind  on  his  problem. 

"  That's  all  I  can  think  of,"  he  said  in  a  moment. 
"  I'll  be  in  the  next  room — the  bedroom  of  the  suite, 
you  know, — and  if  you  should  get  into  deep  water, 
I'll  burst  in,  just  as  I  meant  to  on  the  real  Senator, 
and  pull  you  out.  We  ought  to  get  it  over  in  fifteen 
minutes  at  the  outside  and  get  you  off.  There's 
just  the  least  chance  in  the  world,  of  course,  that 
Senator  Norman  might  get  away  from  Simpson  and 
come  back.  And  there's  Mrs.  Norman." 

"  Where  will  she  be?  "  asked  Merriam  as  he  took 
a  rather  large  sip  of  his  cordial. 

"  She's  in  the  lobby  now  with  Miss  Norman — the 
Senator's  sister,  you  know, — listening  to  the  orches- 
tra." ( Merriam  vaguely  recalled  the  elderly  woman 
whom  he  had  seen  with  Mollie  June  in  the  Caba- 
ret. )  "  The  Senator  was  going  to  take  them  to  the 
theater  after  he  had  finished  with  Black." 

"  What  will  they  do  when  he  doesn't  show  up?  " 
Merriam  inquired;  but  to  all  appearances  he  was 
chiefly  interested  at  the  moment  in  the  best  of 
liqueurs. 


52        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Probably  go  without  him.  She's  used  to  George 
Norman's  broken  engagements  by  now." 

"  I  see,"  said  Merriani  without  expression. 

"  Alicia  and  Murray  will  keep  an  eye  on  them,  of 
course,"  Rockwell  added. 

And  then  both  men  jumped.  It  was  only  the 
telephone,  but  conspiracy  makes  neurastkenics  of 
us  all. 

Rockwell  answered  it. 

"Yes.  — Good.  — That's  all  right.  —  Ok !  — Yes, 
we'll  go  at  once." 

He  turned  excitedly  to  Merriani. 

"  It's  Alicia.  Norman  has  come  down  and  got 
into  Simpson's  car.  Mrs.  Norman  is  still  in  the 
lobby.  And  the  Mayor  has  come  in.  Murray's  got 
him,  but  he  won't  be  able  to  hold  him  long.  We 
must  go  right  up  to  the  room.  Come — Sena- 
tor!" 

Merriam  followed  out  of  the  private  dining-room 
and  down  the  corridor  at  a  great  pace  into  a  main 
hallway  and  to  an  elevator. 

Several  people  looked  hard  at  Merriam.  One  im- 
portant-looking elderly  man  stopped  and  keld  out 
his  hand : 

"  How  are  you,  Senator?  " 

But  Rockwell  crowded  rudely  between  tkem. 

"  Excuse  me,  Colonel,  but  we  must  catch  this 
car. — Very  urgent ! "  he  called  as  the  door 
clicked. 

And  Merriam  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  add, 
"  Look  you  up  later ! " 


STAGE-SETTING  53 

"  Good "  Kockwell  began  as  they  stopped  at 

the  main  floor,  but  he  paused  on  the  first  word  with 
his  mouth  open. 

A  very  large  man,  large  every  way,  in  evening 
clothes,  with  a  fine  head  of  white  hair  and  an  air  of 
conscious  distinction,  was  stepping  into  the  car. 
He  saw  Merriam  and  Kockwell.  Then  instantly  he 
appeared  not  to  have  observed  them,  hesitated, 
backed  gracefully  out  of  the  little  group  that  was 
entering  the  elevator,  and  was  gone. 

The  car  smoothly  ascended. 

"  Three ! "  said  Eockwell  to  the  elevator  man. 
Then  to  Merriam  he  whispered,  "  That  was  the 
Mayor!  He's  got  away  from  Murray." 

"  Ask  for  your  key,"  whispered  Kockwell,  as  they 
stepped  out. 

For  five  protracted  steps  Merriam's  mind  strug- 
gled frantically  after  the  room  number.  He  had 
just  grasped  it  ( 3-2-3 ! )  when  he  perceived  that  his 
perturbation  had  been  unnecessary. 

For  the  floor  clerk — a  pretty  blonde  of  about 
thirty — was  looking  at  him  with  her  sunniest  smile. 

"  Your  key,  Senator?  " 

"  Yes,  please,"  he  managed  to  say. 

As  she  handed  him  the  key  her  fingers  lightly 
touched  his  for  a  second,  and  she  said  in  a  low  tone, 
"  The  violets  are  lovely." 

He  saw  that  she  was  wearing  a  large  bunch  of 
those  expensively  modest  flowers  at  her  waist  and 
understood  that  his  cousin's  extra-marital  interests 
might  not  be  limited  to  Madame  Couteau. 


54        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT> 

He  lingered  just  a  moment  and  replied  in  a  tone 
as  low  as  her  own,  "  They  look  lovely  where  they 
are  now." 

But  an  appalling  difficulty  loomed  over  him  even 
as  he  murmured.  For  he  did  not  know  whether 
Boom  323  lay  to  the  right  or  the  left,  and  if  he 
should  start  in  the  wrong  direction 

But  Rockwell  knew  and  was  already  moving  to 
the  left.  Merriam  followed.  In  his  relief  he 
smiled  brightly  back  at  the  floor  clerk. 

At  the  corner  where  the  hall  turned  Kockwell 
stopped,  and  Merriam,  coming  up  with  him,  read 
"  323  "  on  the  door  before  them.  Both  men  looked 
up  at  the  transom.  It  was  dark. 

"  In ! "  said  Kockwell. 

Merriam  inserted  the  key,  turned  it,  and  cau- 
tiously opened  the  door  a  couple  of  inches,  becom- 
ing, as  he  did  so,  thrillingly  conscious  of  the  bur- 
glarious quality  of  their  enterprise. 

No  light  or  sound  came  from  within. 

For  only  three  or  four  seconds  Rockwell  listened. 
Then  he  pushed  the  door  wide,  stepped  past  Mer- 
riam, and  felt  for  the  switch. 

"  You  haven't  invited  me  in,  Senator,"  he  said  as 
the  room  went  alight,  "  but  I'm  a  forward  sort  of 
fellow. — Come  inside,  and  close  the  door,"  he 
added. 

Merriam  pushed  the  door  shut  behind  him  and 
stared  about.  The  apartment  was  probably  the 
most  gorgeous  he  had  ever  seen.  The  walls  were  a 
soft  cream  colour,  the  woodwork  white,  the  carpet 


STAGE-SETTING  55 

and  hangings  and  lampshades  rose.  Most  of  the 
furniture  was  mahogany,  some  of  it  upholstered  in 
rose-coloured  tapestry.  On  a  table  half  way  down 
one  side  of  the  room  stood  a  bowl  of  red  roses.  In 
the  wall  opposite  Merriam,  between  the  windows, 
was  a  fireplace  of  white  marble,  containing  a  gas 
log,  with  a  large  mirror  above  the  mantel  in  a  frame 
of  white  and  gold.  Before  this  fireplace  stood  a 
huge  upholstered  easy  chair,  with  a  pink-shaded 
floor  lamp  on  one  side  of  it  and  a  small  mahogany 
tabaret  on  the  other. 

While  Merriam  was  endeavouring  to  appreciate 
this  magnificence,  Rockwell  quickly  crossed  the  sit- 
ting room  and  passed  through  a  door  at  one  side. 
After  a  moment  he  returned,  crossed  the  room 
again,  and  disappeared  through  a  second  door. 
Reemerging,  he  announced  triumphantly,  "  No  one 
in  the  bedrooms !  " 

But  Merriam's  eyes  rested,  fascinated,  on  a  gar- 
ment which  Rockwell  had  brought  back  with  him 
from  the  second  bedroom — a  luxurious  smoking 
jacket  of  a  most  lurid  crimson  colour,  which  clashed 
outrageously  with  the  rose  and  pinks  of  the  sena- 
torial sitting  room. 

Rockwell  grinned  at  the  look  on  Merriam's 
face. 

"  A  historic  garment,  sir,"  he  declared.  "  The 
Boy  Senator's  crimson  smoking  jacket  is  a  house- 
hold word  with  most  of  the  six  million  souls  of  this 
commonwealth  of  Illinois.  Off  with  your  tails,  sir, 
and  into  it ! " 


56        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Hurry !  "  lie  cried,  as  Merriam  hesitated.  "  The 
Mayor  will  be  here  any  minute." 

"Why  didn't  he  come  up  in  the  elevator  with 
us?  "  Merriam  asked  while  changing. 

"  All  because  of  me,  sir,"  replied  Eockwell,  in  ex- 
cellent spirits.  "  The  Mayor  abhors  me  and  all 
my  works  so  sincerely  that  I  feel  I  have  not  lived 
in  vain. — Now,  then,  sit  in  that  big  chair  before 
the  fireplace.  Here,  light  this  cigar.  I'll  start  the 
gas  log  going  and  bring  in  the  tray  with  the  siphon 
and  glasses  and  rye  that  I  saw  in  the  other  room. — 
Ah!" 

The  telephone  had  rung,  and  Merriam  had  leapt 
out  of  his  chair. 

"  Answer  it,"  said  Eockwell. 

Merriam  stepped  to  the  telephone,  which  was  on 
the  wall,  laid  down  his  cigar,  gripped  his  nerve 
hard,  and  put  the  receiver  to  his  ear : 

"Hello!" 

A  deep  voice,  boomingly  suave,  replied : 

"  Senator  Norman?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  This  is  Mr.  Black.  Have  you  got  rid  of  Kock- 
well  yet?  " 

"  No,  not  yet." 

"  Well,  can't  you  throw  him  out?  I  am  due  at 
the  Council  meeting  at  nine,  of  course.  And  I 
don't  care  to  discuss — matters — with  you  in  his 
presence,  naturally.  When  shall  I  come  up?  " 

Now  the  Mayor's  rather  long  speech  had  given 
Merriam  time  to  think.  He  recalled  his  great  idea, 


STAGE-SETTING  57 

and  a  new  inspiration,  as  to  ways  and  means,  came 
to  him. 

"  Eight-thirty,"  he  replied  curtly. 

"  But,  good  God !  "  cried  the  Mayor,  "  that  gives 
us  so  little  time.  Can't  you " 

"  I  said  eight-thirty,  damn  you!  " 

And  Merriam  hung  up  and  turned  to  face  Bock- 
well  at  his  elbow. 

"  But  why  eight-thirty?  "  demanded  the  latter  as 
soon  as  he  understood  that  it  had  been  the  Mayor. 
"  Man  alive,  we  ought  to  be  gone  by  then !  What 
are  we  to  do  with  the  next  twenty  minutes?  You 
must  have  lost  your  head.  Call  him  again.  Call 
the  desk  and  have  him  paged  and  told  to  come 
right  up." 

Without  a  word  Merriam  turned  to  the  telephone 
again  and  asked  for  the  desk. 

But  a  moment  later  he  gave  Philip  Rockwell  one 
of  the  major  surprises  of  the  latter's  life.  For  what 
he  said  was : 

"  Please  page  Mrs.  George  Norman,  with  the  mes- 
sage that  Senator  Norman  would  like  to  see  her 
right  away  in  their  rooms.  Repeat  that,  please. — 
That's  right.  Thank  you !  " 

"  What  in  hell ! "  cried  Rockwell,  belatedly  re- 
leased by  the  click  of  the  receiver  from  a  paralysis 
of  astonishment. 

Merriam  picked  up  his  cigar,  walked  back  to  the 
easy  chair,  and  seated  himself  comfortably.  He 
was  excited  now  to  the  point  of  a  quite  theatrical 
composure. 


58        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Nothing  in  hell,"  he  said.  "  Quite  the  contrary, 
in  fact.  I  want  to  have  a  few  minutes'  conversa- 
tion with  Mrs.  Norman.  That's  all." 

"  See  here ! "  said  Rockwell.  "  What  funny  busi- 
ness is  this?  I  won't  have " 

"Won't  you?  All  right.  Just  as  you  say.  If 
you  don't  like  the  way  I'm  playing  my  part,  I'll 
drop  it  and  walk  right  out  of  that  door.  I  have  a 
ticket  for  the  theater  to-night.  I  can  still  be  in 
time." 

The  other  man  stared  and  gulped.  It  was  hard 
for  him  to  realise  that  this  young  cub  was  master 
of  the  situation,  and  not  he,  Kockwell. 

"  But  this  is  serious ! "  he  cried.  "  The  Ordi- 
nance! The  Keform  League!  The  whole  city  of 
Chicago !  You  can't  risk  these  for " 

He  stopped.    Then : 

"  Do  you  realise,  you  young  fool,  that  if  we're 
caught  in  this  room,  it  will  mean  jail  for  both 
of  us?" 

But  Merriam  in  his  present  mood  was  incapable 
of  realising  anything  of  the  sort.  In  his  mind's 
eye  he  saw  Mollie  June  stepping  into  the  elevator 
and  saying  in  a  voice  of  heavenly  sweetness  to  the 
happy  elevator  man,  "  Three,  please !  " 

An  outer  crust  of  his  consciousness  made  pert 
reply  to  Rockwell : 

"That  would  be  bad  for  the  Reform  League, 
wouldn't  it?  "  and  added,  "  But  you're  willing  to 
fisk  it  for  the  Ordinance?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  began  Rockwell,  "  but " 


STAGE-SETTING  59 

"Would  you  risk  it  for  Alicia?  "  Merriam  inter- 
rupted. 

"  What  has  Alicia  got  to  do  with  it?  " 

But  he  understood,  and  knew  that  argument  was 
useless,  and  stared  in  helpless  anger  and  alarm 
while  the  younger  man  carefully,  grandly  blew  a 
beautifully  perfect  smoke  ring  into  the  air. 

It  was  the  youngster  who  spoke,  still  theatrically 
calm: 

"  You'd  better  go  into  the  bedroom.  f  She'll  be 
here  in  a  moment.  Shut  the  door,  please.  And 
keep  away  from  it ! " 

It  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  Philip  Rockwell's  suc- 
cess in  politics  that,  masterful  as  he  was,  he  knew 
when  to  yield.  He  took  a  step  towards  one  of  the 
bedrooms. 

"  Make  it  short,"  he  pleaded. 

"  Eight-thirty !  "  said  Merriam. 

A  gentle  knocking  sounded  at  the  door. 

Merriam  was  on  his  feet  without  volition  of  his 
own,  while  Rockwell,  almost  as  instinctively, 
slipped  into  the  bedroom. 

Then  the  younger  man  recovered  himself,  sat 
down,  his  feet  to  the  gas  log  and  his  back  to  the 
door,  and  called,  "  Come  in! " 


CHAPTER  VII 

BOY  AND  GIRL 

door  was  opened  and  closed.  John  Mer- 
JL  riam's  straining  ears  could  catch  no  definite 
sound  of  footsteps  or  skirts,  and  he  did  not  dare  to 
look  around.  Yet  by  some  sixth  sense,  it  seemed, 
he  was  aware  of  Mollie  June's  progress  half  way 
across  the  room  and  aware  that  she  had  stopped, 
some  feet  away  from  him. 

"  What  is  it — George?  "  she  asked. 

It  was  only  too  clear  that  Mollie  June's  lord  and 
master  was  not  in  the  habit  of  sending  for  her. 

"  Where  is — Miss  Norman?  " 

Merriam  was  conscious  that  Senator  Norman 
probably  did  not  refer  to  Ms  sister  in  that  fashion, 
but  he  did  not  know  her  given  name. 

"  Aunt  Mary?  I  left  her  in  the  lobby.  Did  you 
want  her  too?  " 

There  was  a  note  of  eagerness  in  the  question. 

"  No ! " 

Silence.  Mollie  June  stood  waiting  in  the  center 
of  the  room.  The  significance  of  her  failure  to  ap- 
proach her  husband  was  unmistakable. 

Then  he  said :  "  Would  you  very  much  mind  if 
you  should  miss  the  theater  to-night?  " 

60 


BOY  AND  GIRL  61 

"Why — no.  Is  there  anything  the  matter, 
George?  " 

"Not  for  me,"  said  Merriam,  and  he  rose  and 
faced  her. 

"  I  was  afraid "     She  stopped,  looked  hard. 

"  George,  you  look — oh !  " 

She  passed  her  hand  across  her  eyes.  It  was  a 
stage  gesture,  but  when  stage  situations  occur  in 
real  life  the  conventional  "  business  "  of  the  boards 
is  often  justified. 

She  looked  again. 

"  Mr.  Merriam ! " 

John  Merriam  stepped  quickly  forward.  It  oc- 
curred to  him  that  she  might  faint.  He  had  read 
many  novels. 

But  Mollie  June  did  nothing  of  the  sort. 

"  Mr.  Merriam !  "  she  cried  again.  "  How  do  you 
come  here?  Where  is — Mr.  Norman?  How  did 
you  get  in  that?" 

She  pointed  to  the  famous  smoking  jacket.  Her 
bewilderment  was  increasing.  She  looked  nerv- 
ously about,  as  if  suspecting  that  Merriam,  for  the 
sake  of  the  crimson  garment,  had  murdered  her 
husband  and  concealed  his  body. 

Merriam  had  stopped.  Almost  he  might  have 
wished  that  she  had  fainted.  It  would  have  been 
delicious  to  carry  her  in  his  arms  and  place  her  in 
the  Senator's  easy  chair  and  bring  water  and  when 
her  eyes  opened  wonderingly  upon  him  softly  whis- 
per her  name.  As  it  was  he  could  only  say  for- 
mally: 


62        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT> 

"  Let  me  take  your  cloak — Mrs.  Norman — won't 
you?  And  sit  down." 

Mechanically  she  let  him  take  the  opera  cloak 
from  her  shoulders,  and  when  he  caught  hold  of  the 
senatorial  chair  and  swung  it  around  and  pushed  it 
towards  her  she  sat  tremblingly  erect  on  the  edge  of 
it.  Her  eyes  dwelt  upon  his  face  as  if  fascinated. 

"  Isn't  it  funny  you  look  so  much  alike?  I 
never  realised  it — so  much.  But — where  is  he? 
Why ?" 

Merriam  caught  up  a  small  chair,  placed  it  in 
front  of  hers,  and  sat  down, 

"  Listen,  Mollie  June,"  he  said  pleadingly,  using 
unconsciously  the  name  that  ran  in  his  thoughts. 

His  plan,  as  it  had  taken  shape  while  he  talked 
with  Mayor  Black  on  the  telephone,  was  to  tell  her 
in  advance  of  Rockwell's  plot  and  to  carry  it 
through  only  with  her  approval  or  consent — for  was 
not  his  first  loyalty  to  her?  His  original  idea,  and 
his  real  motive,  of  course,  had  been  only  to  see  her. 
And  now  that  he  had  her  there  he  found  he  hated  to 
waste  time  on  explanations.  But  there  was  noth- 
ing for  it.  She  could  not  be  at  ease  or  clear  in  her 
mind  until  she  understood.  So,  rapidly  and  can- 
didly, he  related  how  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Kock- 
well  the  Senator  had  been  decoyed  away,  while  he 
was  there  to  impersonate  him  with  Mayor  Black,  so 
that  the  latter  should  sign  instead  of  vetoing  the 
Traction  Ordinance.  Then  he  waited  for  he  knew 
not  what — amazement,  fright,  anger,  dissuasion. 

But  Mollie  June  did  not  seem  much  interested  in 


BOY  AND  GIRL  63 

traction  ordinances.  Presumably  Senator  Norman 
had  not  cared  to  educate  his  young  wife  about  po- 
litical matters. 

"  Why  did  you  send  for  me?  "  she  asked. 

Her  question  was  almost  too  direct  for  him.  He 
could  not  say,  to  ask  her  approval  of  the  plan 
against  her  husband. 

"  I  had  to  see  you,"  was  all  he  could  reply. 

"  Why?  " 

But  she  knew  the  real  reason.  The  turning  of 
her  eyes  away  from  him  confessed  it. 

It  was  his  chance  to  say,  "  Because  I  love  you." 
An  older  man  might  have  said  it.  But  the  young 
are  timid  and  conventional — not  bold  and  reckless, 
as  is  alleged.  He  remembered  that  she  was  another 
man's  wife  and  only  spoke  her  name : 

"Mollie  June!" 

Perhaps  that  did  as  well.  In  fact  it  was,  in  the 
reticent  dialect  of  youth,  the  same  thing. 

She  looked  at  him  a  moment,  then  quickly  away 
again. 

"  You  never  called  me  that  but  once  before — to- 
night," she  said. 

At  first  he  found  no  answer.  His  mind  scarcely 
sought  one.  He  was  absorbed  in  merely  looking  at 
her.  She  was  indeed  girlishly  perfect  as  she  sat 
there,  almost  primly  upright,  in  her  white  frock, 
her  slender  figure  framed  in  the  rose-coloured  tap- 
estry of  the  big  chair's  back  and  arms,  which  gave 
an  effect  as  of  a  blush  to  her  cheeks  and  to  the  white 
shoulders  which  he  had  never  seen  before  except 


64        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBA3O) 

across  the  spaces  of  the  Peacock  Cabaret.  To  the 
eyes  of  middle  age  she  would  have  been,  perhaps, 
merely  "  charming."  In  his  she  shone  with  the 
divine  radiance  of  Aphrodite.  And  his  were  right, 
of  course. 

He  was  almost  trembling  when  at  length  he  said : 

"  That  was  on — that  last  night." 

"  Yes,"  said  Aphrodite,  who  is  always  chary  of 
speech. 

Suddenly  he  saw  that  her  averted  face  was  wist- 
ful, sad. 

"  Are  you  happy,  Mollie  June?  "  he  cried. 

Though  she  turned  only  partly  to  him  he  saw  that 
her  eyes  were  more  a  woman's  eyes  than  he  had 
known  them  and  were  full  of  tears. 

"  Not — very,"  she  said. 

He  sat  dumbly  on  his  chair,  full  of  pain  for  her, 
yet  not  altogether  saddened  that  she  should  not  be 
entirely  happy  with  another  man. 

But  now  her  face  was  fully  towards  him,  and  her 
eyes  had  become  dry  and  looked  past  him. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Merriam — you  don't  know!  I  can't 
tell  you " 

He  was  filled  with  horror — almost  boyishly  terri- 
fied— by  such  dim  visions  as  a  man  may  have  of 
what  her  lot  might  be. 

"  If  I  could  only  help  you ! "  he  cried,  as  earnestly 
as  all  the  other  separated  lovers  in  the  world  have 
said  those  very  words. 

The  eyes  that  looked  beyond  him  came  back  to  his 
face.  The  Mollie  June  whom  he  had  known  had 


BOY  AND  GIRL  65 

had  her  girlish  poise,  and  this  more  tragic  Mollie 
June  did  not  lose  her  self-control  for  long. 

"  You  have  helped  me — Mr.  Merriam.  Oh,  I  am 
glad  you  brought  me  here !  When  I  saw  you  in — 
the  Cabaret,  I  just  ran  away  from  you.  I  couldn't 
even  let  you  speak  to  me.  Afterwards  I  waited  up- 
stairs in  the  lobby.  I  thought — I  might  see  you 
there.  But  you  didn't  come.  Then  I  thought 
George  had  sent  for  me !  " 

She  stopped  as  if  that  was  a  climax. 

Merriam  leaned  forward.  He  wanted  to  put  his 
hand  over  one  of  hers  that  lay  on  the  arm  of  her 
chair,  but  did  not  dare  to.  His  tongue,  however, 
was  released  at  last. 

"  If  ever  I  can  help  you  in  any  way,  Mollie  June, 
you  must  let  me  know.  I  would  do  anything  for 
you.  I  will  always  be  ready." 

He  paused  abruptly,  though  only  for  a  second. 
A  dark  thought  had  crossed  his  mind :  after  all  the 
"  Boy  Senator  "  was  an  old  man  (from  the  stand- 
point of  twenty-eight),  and  leading  a  life  unhealthy 
for  old  men.  He  hurried  on : 

"  I  will  wait  for  you  always.  Perhaps  some 
day " 

Did  she  comprehend  his  meaning?  He  could  not 
tell,  and  he  did  not  know  whether  to  hope  she  did  or 
did  not.  But  stress  of  conflicting  emotions  made 
him  venturesome.  He  did  put  his  hand  over  hers. 

Hers  did  not  move. 

His  fingers  slipped  under  hers,  ready  to  raise  her 
hand. 


66        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  That  last  night  in  Riceville,  Mollie  June,  I 
kissed  your — glove.  To-night  I  want  to  kiss  your 
hand — to  make  me  yours — if  you  should  need 
me." 

She  did  not  draw  her  hand  away,  but  she  said : 

"  You  oughtn't  to — now — Mr.  Merriam." 

The  formal  name  by  which  she  had  continually 
addressed  him  pricked. 

"Won't  you  call  me  'John,'  Mollie  June,  just 
for  this  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the  Mayor 
comes?  " 

"  Oh,  the  Mayor ! "  she  cried  in  alarmed  remem- 
brance. 

"  Call  me  '  John/  dear — for  fifteen  minutes ! " 

In  his  voice  and  eyes  were  both  entreaty  and  com- 
mand, and  Mollie  June  could  not  resist  them. 

"  John !  "  shf  whimpered. 

And  he  raised  her  hand  and  bent  quickly  forward, 
and  his  lips  pressed  her  fingers.  A  bare  second. 
Yet  it  was  in  his  mind  a  solemn,  a  sacramental  kiss. 
He  straightened  up  triumphant,  happy.  Youth 
asks  so  little. 

"  Now  you  know  you  have  a  right  to  me ! "  he 
cried.  "  To  send  for  me.  To  use  me  any  way,  any 
time ! " 

There  came  a  loud  knocking  at  the  door. 

Mollie  June  started  half  way  out  of  the  chair  and 
then  sank  back.  Merriam,  on  his  feet  and  part 
way  across  the  floor,  stopped  confused.  He  per- 
ceived that  he  ought  to  get  Mollie  June  out  of  the 
room. 


BOY  AND  GIRL  67 

The  knocking  resounded  again.  And  immediately 
the  door  was  tried  and  opened,  and  a  man  stepped 
in.  It  was  the  large  man  with  the  white  hair  who 
had  started  to  enter  the  elevator — Mayor  Black. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK 

THE  Mayor  of  the  great  city  of  Chicago  was 
hurriedly  apologetic: 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Senator.  You  said  eight- 
thirty,  you  know,  and  it's  that  now.  I  came  up  and 
knocked.  Evidently  you  did  not  hear.  A  man  I 
met  in  the  lobby  told  me  that  you  had  left  the  hotel 
in  a  taxi  half  an  hour  ago.  He  said  he  saw  you  go. 
So  I  tried  the  door  and  when  it  opened  stepped  in, 
just  to  make  sure.  I  am  sorry  to  have  intruded." 

Apparently,  however,  he  did  not  intend  to  with- 
draw. 

Mollie  June  crouched  frightened  in  her  chair,  but 
Merriam  was  rapidly  pulling  himself  together. 

"  It  is  I  who  should  apologise  for  keeping  you 
waiting,  Mayor  Black,"  he  said.  "  I  will  ask  Mrs. 
Norman  to  excuse  us.  Will  you  step  into  the  next 
room  for  a  few  minutes,  Mollie  June?  We  shall 
not  be  long." 

He  went  back  to  her  chair  and  held  out  his  hand. 

She  took  it  and  rose.  Her  spirit,  too,  was  re- 
asserting itself.  She  faced  the  Mayor  with  a  smile : 

"  Good  evening,  Mr.  Black." 

"  Good  evening,  Mrs.  Norman."  He  bowed  gal- 
lantly. "  I  am  very  sorry " 

68 


PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK      69 

"  Oh,"  she  cried  lightly,  one  would  have  said  hap- 
pily, "  business  is  business,  I  know."  Then  to  Mer- 
riam :  "  You  won't  be  long?  " 

"  Only  a  minute — dear." 

(Perhaps  we  can  hardly  blame  him  for  profiting 
by  the  license  his  role  gave  him  to  address  her 
so.) 

He  moved  to  the  door  opposite  to  that  through 
which  Rockwell  had  slipped  away  fifteen  minutes 
earlier  and  opened  it  for  her.  She  passed  through 
into  the  darkness  of  the  other  room.  He  felt  for 
the  switch  and  pushed  it. 

As  the  light  went  on  she  turned  and  smiled  at 
him : 

"  Thank  you." 

For  an  instant  it  seemed  to  him — perhaps  to  both 
of  them — that  she  was  really  his  wife,  who  was 
leaving  him  for  a  few  minutes  only,  whom  he  would 
soon  rejoin. 

Then  he  turned  to  face  Mayor  Black. 

"  I  need  stay  only  a  minute,  Senator,"  the  Mayor 
was  saying.  "  If  I  had  known  you  were  engaged 
with  Mrs.  Norman,  I  shouldn't  have  bothered  you. 
It  wasn't  really  necessary.  I  met  Mr.  Crockett 
downstairs  while  I  was  waiting.  He  told  me  the 
answer.  But  since  I  had  the  engagement  with  you 
I  came  up.  If  I  may,  I'll  write  the  veto  right  here, 
and  then  I  can  go  on  to  the  Council  meeting." 

As  he  spoke  he  drew  a  thick  roll  of  paper  from 
his  overcoat  pocket,  unfolded  it,  opened  it  at  the 
last  sheet,  and  laid  it  on  a  small  writing  table. 


70 

"I  shan't  give  any  reasons,"  he  added,  sitting 
down  and  picking  up  a  pen.  "  Least  said,  soonest 
mended  —  eh,  Senator?  " 

"  But  you're  not  to  veto  !  You're  to  sign  !  "  cried 
Merriam. 

Perhaps  if  he  had  more  fully  grasped  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  other's  statement  about  Mr.  Crockett 
he  would  have  been  less  abrupt;  but  that  mighty 
financier  was  only  a  dim  name  to  his  mind. 

"  What?  "  said  Black,  turning  in  his  chair. 

The  Mayor's  tone  gave  Merriam  some  realisation 
of  the  seriousness  of  the  new  situation.  But  he 
could  only  stand  to  his  guns. 

"You're  to  sign!  I  don't  care  what  Crockett 
said.  I  don't  care  a  damn  what  he  said,"  he  cor- 
rected himself.  "  You  do  what  I  say,  damn  you  !  " 

"But  how  is  this?"  exclaimed  the  Mayor. 
"  Crockett  said  you  fully  agreed  that  the  best  in- 


He  stopped,  looking  intently  at  Merriam. 

In  the  excitement  of  the  dialogue  which  had  fol- 
lowed Merriam's  sending  for  Mollie  June  Eockwell 
had  neglected  the  precaution  he  had  had  in  mind  of 
having  only  side  lights  on.  Kockwell  had  planned, 
also,  that  Merriam  should  sit  facing  the  gas  log 
with  his  back  to  the  room  and  look  at  the  Mayor  as 
little  as  possible.  Now  the  boy  stood  where  the  full 
glare  of  the  chandelier  shone  on  his  face.  Perhaps, 
too,  the  emotions  of  a  youthful  love  scene,  such  as 
he  had  just  passed  through,  were  not  the  best  prepa- 
ration in  the  world  for  counterfeiting  the  slightly 


PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK      71 

•worn  cheeks  and  slightly  tired  eyes  of  an  elderly  if 
well-preserved  politician. 

"  Who  in  hell  are  you?  "  gasped  the  Mayor. 

Merriam  was  certainly  startled.  Perhaps  he 
showed  it  just  a  little.  But  he  stood  up  bravely. 

"  You  know  damn  well  who  I  am.  And  you  do 
as  I  say  or  get  out  of  Chicago  politics.  I'll  attend 
to  Crockett,"  he  added.  "  That's  my  affair." 

"  Is  that  so?  Well,  I  guess  it's  my  affair  who 
makes  a  monkey  of  me !  I " 

Again  the  Mayor  stopped  abruptly  and  stared. 
Then  suddenly  he  rose. 

"  I  was  told  the  Senator  had  left  the  hotel.  I 
think  I  was  correctly  informed.  What  sort  of  a 
trick  is  this?  Who  are  you?  " 

"  Damn  you "  Merriam  began,  with  realistic 

sincerity,  but  with  the  vaguest  ideas  as  to  what 
more  substantial  statement  should  follow. 

At  this  moment,  however,  Rockwell  opened  his 
door  and  stepped  into  the  room. 

"  Aha ! "  cried  the  Mayor.  No  stage  villain  could 
have  said  it  better.  "  Mr.  Rockwell !  Of  the  Re- 
form League,  I  believe !  "  He  bowed  sardonically. 
" '  One-Thing-at-a-Time  Rockwell!'  Well,  one 
thing  at  a  time  like  this  " — he  pointed  at  Merriam 
— "  ought  to  be  enough  for  a  reformer !  " 

"  Good  evening,  Mayor  Black,"  said  Rockwell. 
"  I  believe  you  were  about  to  sign  the  Ordinance." 

"  I  was  not.  In  spite  of  the  Senator  here.  I 
don't  get  a  chance  to  defy  Senator  Norman  every 
day.  I  rather  enjoy  it! — And  let  me  tell  you," 


72        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

he  added,  "  if  you  and  your  friends  in  that  damned 
League  make  any  more  trouble  for  me  or  Senator 
Norman  or  the  Ordinance  or  anything  else  after 
this — if  you  don't  shut  up  and  lie  low  and  keep 
pretty  damn  quiet,  we'll  show  you  up,  my  boy. 
This  would  make  a  pretty  little  story  for  the  news- 
papers—and for  the  State's  Attorney,  too!  We 
might  call  it  'The  Ethics  of  Eeform!'  Oh,  we 
have  you  where  we  want  you  now,  Mr.  Reformer ! 
As  for  this  young  impostor  here,  we'll  have  to  look 
him  up  a  bit.  A  very  promising  young  gentle- 
man ! " 

The  Mayor  evidently  enjoyed  the  center  of  the 
stage.  He  towered  tall  and  imposing  and  righteous, 
and  looked  triumphantly  from  Rockwell  to  Mer- 
riam  and  back  again. 

"  I  really  think  you'd  better  sign  it,"  said  Rock- 
well. He  spoke  rather  low. 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  cried  the  Mayor. 

Then  he  thought  he  saw. 

"  Oh,  it's  strong-arm  work  next,  is  it?  " 

There  was  a  note  of  alarm  mingled  with  his 
irony,  and  the  magnificence  of  his  pose  weakened  a 
little.  Rockwell  was  a  determined-looking  fellow, 
and  there  was  Merriam  to  help  him,  and  the  Mayor 
was  not  really  a  very  brave  man.  But  he  went  on 
talking  to  save  his  face : 

"  You  certainly  are  a  jewel  of  a  reformer,  Rock- 
well!" 

Then  he  saw  a  point  and  quickly  recovered  his 
full  grandeur. 


PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK       73 

"  I  don't  quite  see  how  you're  going  to  manage, 
though..  Of  course,  if  it  were  a  case  of  preventing 
me  from  signing,  you  might  do  it — the  two  of  you ! 
But  signing's  rather  different,  isn't  it?  You  can 

lead  a  horse  to  water Of  course,  you  can  club 

me  or  hold  a  revolver  to  my  head.  But,  you  see,  I 
know  you  wouldn't  dare  to  fire  a  revolver  here  in 
this  room.  So  just  how  will  you  force  my  fingers  to 
form  the  letters?  Or  perhaps  you  will  try  forgery? 
Is  forgery  the  next  act,  Mr.  Reformer?  " 

Rockwell  smiled.  He  was  in  no  hurry  to  reply. 
Merriam  still  stood,  as  he  had  throughout  this  un- 
foreseen dialogue,  a  rigid  spectator. 

Then,  in  the  moment's  silence,  very  inoppor- 
tunely, a  clock,  somewhere  outside,  struck  the  hour 
— a  quarter  to  nine. 

Rockwell  tried  to  drown  it,  saying,  "  I'm  hardly 
so  versatile  as  that." 

But  the  Mayor  had  heard  and  understood. 

"  Oh,  that's  it ! "  he  cried. 

"  Yes,  that's  it !  "  said  Rockwell,  and  the  center 
of  the  stage  automatically  shifted  to  him.  "  If  that 
Ordinance  is  not  returned  to  the  Council  with  your 
veto  by  nine  o'clock  to-night,  it  becomes  a  law 
whether  you  sign  it  or  not !  You're  a  bit  slow,  Mr. 
Mayor,  but  you've  got  it  at  last !  " 

The  Mayor  did  not  answer.  He  shifted  slightly 
on  his  feet.  His  hand  shot  out.  He  grabbed  the 
Ordinance  from  the  writing  table  and  "rushed  for 
the  door. 

"  Catch  him !  "  shouted  Rockwell.     "  Hold  him ! " 


Merriam  had  been  a  football  player.  As  if  re- 
leased from  a  spring  he  darted  after  the  Mayor. 
From  habit  he  tackled  low.  They  went  down  with 
something  of  a  crash,  knocking  over  an  ash  stand  as 
they  fell,  and  the  Mayor  gave  a  groan.  If  he  had 
ever  known  how  to  fall  properly,  he  had  forgotten. 
Merriam  hoped  there  were  no  bones  broken. 

But  Rockwell  was  wasting  no  thoughts  on  com- 
miseration. He  was  kneeling  over  the  fallen  ruler 
of  the  city  with  his  hands  clapped  over  his  mouth — 
to  prevent  further  groans  or  other  outcry. 

"  Get  the  paper !  "  he  said. 

Merriam  scrambled  forward  and  tried  to  pull  the 
Ordinance  from  the  hand  at  the  end  of  the  out- 
stretched arm.  It  was  held  tight.  He  was  afraid 
of  tearing  it. 

"  Twist  his  arm,"  said  Eockwell. 

A  very  little  twist  sufficed.  The  Mayor  gare  up. 
Merriam  rose  to  his  feet  with  the  document. 

"  Will  you  be  quiet?  "  Eockwell  demanded  in  the 
Mayor's  ear,  and  released  his  mouth  enough  to  en- 
able him  to  answer. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Mayor  feebly.     "  Let  me  up." 

"All  right.  That's  better.  If  you  make  any 
rumpus  we'll  down  you  again,  you  know,  and  tie 
you  up  and  gag  you. — Give  me  the  paper,"  he  added 
to  Merriam,  "  and  help  him  up,  will  you?  " 

He  stood  watching  while  the  younger  man  as- 
sisted the  Mayor  in  the  ponderous  job  of  getting  on 
his  feet. 

"  I  hope  you  aren't  hurt,  sir,"  said  Merriam. 


The  Mayor  looked  sourly  at  him.  "  Thanks ! " 
He  felt  of  his  arms  and  passed  his  hands  up  and 
down  over  his  ribs.  "  I  guess  I'm  all  right — except 
my  clothes." 

In  fact  his  white  shirt  front  was  crumpled  and 
his  broadcloth  coat  and  trousers  were  dusty  with 
cigar  ash  from  the  fallen  stand.  Merriam  was  in 
little  better  condition.  They  were  not  dressed  for 
football  practice.  Rockwell  only  was  still  immacu- 
late. 

"  I'll  get  a  brush,"  said  Merriam.  No  longer  a 
Senator,  he  felt  very  boyish  and  anxious  to  be  use- 
ful. 

As  he  spoke  he  turned  to  the  room — the  fall  had 
occurred  near  the  door  into  the  hall — and  stopped 
nonplused.  For  in  her  bedroom  door  stood  Mollie 
June,  her  eyes  full  at  once  of  eagerness  and  of  ap- 
prehension. 

How  much  she  had  heard  I  do  not  pretend  to 
know.  Perhaps  some  of  Merriam's  unprofessorial 
profanity,  possibly  the  Mayor's  triumphant  irony, 
certainly  Rockwell's  shout,  "  Catch  him ! "  and  the 
fall.  Doubtless  the  silence  after  that  thud  had 
been  too  much  for  her  self-control. 

The  Mayor's  rueful  gaze  travelling  past  Merriam 
also  rested  on  Mollie  June.  A  light  came  into  his 
eyes.  He  drew  himself  up. 

"  Come  in,  Mrs.  Norman,"  ke  said.  "  Your  hus- 
band " — with  a  significant  emphasis  on  the  word — 
"has  been  giving  a  demonstration  of  his  athletic 
prowess.  He  is  indeed  the  Boy  Senator  and  a  suit- 


76        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

able  mate  for  a  woman  as  young  and  pretty  as  your- 
self." 

He  paid  no  attention  to  Merriam's  angry  and 
threatening  glance  but  turned  to  Rockwell. 

"  Mr.  Rockwell,"  he  said,  "  I  think  you'd  better 
give  me  that  Ordinance  after  all." 

Rockwell  spoke  in  a  low  tone  to  Merriam : 

"  Get  her  out !  " 

The  Mayor  had  no  objection  to  that.  The  older 
men  watched  while  Merriam  walked  rapidly  across 
the  room  to  Mollie  June. 

"  You'd  better  go  into  the  other  room  again, 
dear,"  he  said. 

But  Mollie  June's  eyes  were  bright  and  her 
colour  high  and  her  white  shoulders  very  straight. 

"  No !  "  she  said. 

"  You  really  will  oblige  us  greatly,  Mrs.  Nor- 
man," said  the  Mayor,  "  if  you  will  withdraw  for  a 
moment  longer." 

"  No !  "  said  Mollie  June.  "  This  is  my  room.  I 
have  a  right  to  be  here.  And  I  don't  like  scuffling. " 

She  cast  a  disdainful  glance  at  their  crumpled 
shirts  and  dusty  trousers.  And,  womanlike,  she 
sought  a  diversion. 

"  What  a  mess  you  are  in !  "  she  cried.  "  Mr. — 
George, — get  the  whisk  broom  from  the  bedroom 
there!" 

It  was  an  almost  haughty  command.  And  Mer- 
riam rejoiced  to  obey  this  new  mistress  of  the  situa- 
tion. He  darted  into  the  bedroom. 

The  two  older  men  looked  at  each  other.     Rock- 


PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOK  BLACK      77 

well  was  content:  time  was  passing.  When  the 
Mayor  started  to  speak  he  forestalled  him. 

"  She's  really  right,"  he  said.  "  You  can't  leave 
like  this.  And  some  one  mignt  come  in." 

Merriam  was  back  with  the  whisk  broom. 

"  Come  under  the  light,"  ordered  Mollie  June, 
addressing  the  Mayor. 

That  dignitary  reluctantly  advanced. 

"  Turn  around.     Now,  George,  brush  him." 

Merriam  sought  diligently  to  remove  the  ashes 
from  the  Mayor's  garments.  It  required  vigorous 
work,  for  the  dust  was  rubbed  deeply  into  the  cloth. 
Mollie  June  superintended  closely.  The  Mayor  had 
to  turn  about  several  times  and  raise  an  arm  and 
then  the  other  arm.  He  could  not  make  much 
progress  in  the  regaining  of  his  dignity ;  and  he,  no 
less  than  Kockwell,  was  conscious  of  the  fleeing  mo- 
ments. But,  glancing  again  and  again  at  Mollie 
June,  girlishly  imperious  and  intent,  he  could  not 
as  yet  muster  his  brutality  for  what  he  saw  the  next 
move  in  his  game  must  be.  Rockwell  waited  se- 
renely in  the  background,  the  Ordinance  in  his 
hand. 

At  last  the  Mayor's  broadcloth  was  fairly  pre- 
sentable. Nothing  could  be  done,  of  course,  with 
his  shirt  front. 

"Now,  George,"  said  Mollie  June,  "it's  your 
turn.  Give  me  the  broom." 

"No,  no!" 

"  Owe  me  the  broom! "  She  took  it  from  his 
hand.  "  Turn  around !  " 


78        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

And  with  her  own  hands  and  in  the  manner  of 
wifely  solicitude  she  began  to  dust  his  collar  and 
lapels. 

This  was  not  unpleasant  for  Merriam,  but  it 
prompted  the  Mayor  to  take  his  cue.  As  he  watched 
his  eyes  hardened,  and  in  a  moment  he  said : 

"  You  take  good  care  of  your  husband,  don't  you, 
Mrs.  Norman?  " 

"  I  try  to,"  said  Mollie  June  rather  pertly,  dust- 
ing away.  Evidently  she  had  not  heard  enough  to 
know  that  Merriam  had  been  found  out. 

"  It  must  be  pleasant,"  said  the  Mayor,  "  to  have 
such  a  nice  young  husband." 

Mollie  June  stopped  her  work  and  looked  at  him 
in  sudden  alarm. 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  she  said. 

Rockwell  stepped  forward  and  caught  her  arm : 

"  Let  me  lead  you  into  the  next  room,  Mrs.  Nor- 
man. You  must  let  us  talk  with  the  Mayor." 

"  No ! "  she  cried,  snatching  her  arm  away,  and 
turning  eyes  of  angry  innocence  on  Mayor  Black. 
"  What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  I  mean,"  he  said,  with  smiling  suavity — he  was 
not  to  be  daunted  now,  and,  short  of  violence,  there 
was  no  way  of  stopping  him, — "that  you  are  a 
young  woman.  This  gentleman — whose  name  I  do 
not  have  the  honour  of  knowing — is  also  young,  and 
rather  handsome.  The  Senator,  of  course,  is  get- 
ting old.  I  find  you  two  alone  in  your  husband's 
rooms,  your  husband  having  been  tricked  away. 
You  can  hardly  expect  me  to  believe  that  you  mis- 


PASSAGES  WITH  MAYOR  BLACK       79 

took  him  for  your  husband.  You  display  no  dislike 
for  his  person.  I  draw  my  own  conclusions.  Every 
one  in  Chicago  will  draw  the  same  conclusions  if 
this  interesting  situation,  quite  worthy  of  Boccac- 
cio, should  become  known.  That's  why  I  think  " — 
he  turned  suddenly  to  Rockwell — "  that  you'd  bet- 
ter give  me  the  Ordinance  after  all." 

Mollie  June's  cheeks  were  blazing.  Merriam's 
also;  he  could  not  look  at  her.  But  Rockwell 
pulled  his  watch  from  his  pocket. 

"  It  is  now  two  minutes  past  nine,"  he  said. 
"  The  Ordinance  has  become  law.  You  can  have  it 
now,  Mr.  Mayor."  He  held  out  the  document. 

The  Mayor  snatched  it. 

"  It's  not  legal !  "  he  cried.  "  And  it  won't  stand. 
I  can  prove  that  I  was  prevented  by  foul  means — 
by  foul  means,"  he  repeated,  "  from  exercising  my 
charter  right  of  veto.  I'll  take  out  an  injunction, 
and  I'll  fight  it  to  the  Supreme  Court.  And  in  the 
process  all  Chicago — the  whole  United  States — 
shall  be  entertained  with  the  piquant  story  of  these 
young  people  " — he  waved  a  hand  towards  Merriam 
and  Mollie  June, — "  aided  and  abetted  by  Mr.  Re- 
former Rockwell.  I'll  ruin  them,  and  you  and  your 
League,  whatever  else  comes  of  it.  Oh,  you're  a 
clever  lot,  you — you  reformers !  " 

He  paused  out  of  breath.  Then,  dramatically, 
for  he  was  always  self-conscious  and  inclined  to 
pose: 

"  Madame  and  gentlemen ! " — but  the  effective- 
ness of  his  bow  was  somewhat  marred  by  the  sorry 


80        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

state  of  his  shirt  front — "  I  wish  you  a  very  good 
evening ! " 

But  Rockwell  was  before  him  with  his  back  to  the 
hall  door. 

"  You've  forgotten  your  hat,  Mayor,"  he  said. 

(In  fact,  his  tall  hat  still  stood  on  the  writing 
table  where  he  had  set  it  down  before  he  spread  out 
the  Ordinance  there  to  write  his  veto. ) 

"  Damn  my  hat !     Let  me  go !  " 

"  Presently,  presently.  I  still  think  you'd  better 
sign  the  Ordinance." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  knock  me  down  again?  " 

"  I'd  like  nothing  better,  you — cad !  "  cried  Mer- 
riam,  who  had  stood  bursting  with  outrage  a  min- 
ute longer  than  he  could  endure. 

The  Mayor  almost  jumped  at  the  savage  sincerity 
of  this  threat  in  his  rear.  Rockwell  smiled  at  the 
startled  look  on  his  face,  but  he  spoke  quietly : 

"No  violence.  I  hope  to  convince  you  that  it 
would  be  to  your  best  interests  to  sign  it.  Since  it 
has  become  a  law  anyway." 

"  Never !  "  cried  the  Mayor.  "  Do  you  think  I 
would  be  a  traitor  to — to — my  party?  And  I  mean 
to  get  even  with  this  gang,  whatever  else  I  do !  " 

But  the  next  instant  he  jumped  indeed.  A  new 
voice  spoke — a  woman's. 

"  Mayor  Black,"  it  said,  "  you're  a  fool ! " 


CHAPTER  IX 

AUNT  MARY 

ALL  four  of  the  actors  in  the  little  scene  turned, 
and  Mollie  June  uttered  an  exclamation : 

"Aunt  Mary!" 

In  the  doorway  from  which  Rockwell  had 
emerged  a  few  minutes  earlier  stood  the  thin,  pale, 
elderly  woman  whom  Merriam  had  seen  with  Mollie 
June  in  the  Peacock  Cabaret.  She  wore  a  black 
evening  gown,  rather  too  heavily  overlaid  with  jet, 
was  tall  and  very  erect,  and  had  streaked  gray  hair, 
a  Roman  nose,  and  a  firm  mouth.  The  effect  as  she 
stood  there,  framed  in  the  door,  was  decidedly 
striking — sibylline. 

Mollie  June  ran  to  her. 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Mary !  "  she  cried. 

Merriam  was  afraid  that  Mollie  June  would  burst 
into  tears.  Very  possibly  she  would  have  liked  to 
do  so,  but  Aunt  Mary  gave  her  no  opportunity. 

"  Lock  the  door,  Mr.  Rockwell,"  she  said,  putting 
an  arm  about  Mollie  June's  waist.  Her  tone  and 
manner  were  vigorous  and  dominant. 

"  Good  evening,  Mr.  Black,"  she  continued,  while 
Rockwell  hastened  to  obey  her.  And  to  Merriam : 
"  Good  evening,  Mr. — Wilson.  Now  I  think  we 
had  better  all  sit  down  and  talk  it  over." 

81 


82        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I  can't,"  said  the  Mayor.  "  I'm  late  for  the 
Council  meeting  already.  I've  been  shamefully 
tricked,  Miss  Norman." 

"  I  think  you  have,"  returned  Aunt  Mary,  releas- 
ing Mollie  June  and  advancing  a  step  or  two  into 
the  room.  "  But  that's  the  very  reason  why  you 
need  to  consider  your  position  at  once.  Yoa're  in  a 
mess.  So  are  we.  Perhaps  we  can  help  each  other 
out.  The  Council  can  wait.  'Phone  them  that 
you've  been  detained.  They  can  go  ahead,  I  sup- 
pose. Eeally,  Mr.  Black,  I  see  a  point  or  two  in 
this  business  that  I  think  will  interest  you." 

Mayor  Black  met  Mary  Norman's  direct,  pur- 
poseful gaze.  He  was  impressed  by  her  air  of  com- 
mand and  intelligence.  He  recalled  gossip  to  the 
effect  that  it  was  really  she  who  ran  George  Nor- 
man's campaigns,  that  she  even  wrote  some  of  his 
speeches. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said,  "  I'll  stay  ten  minutes. 
Never  mind  'phoning." 

"  Good,"  said  Aunt  Mary.  "  There  are  seats  for 
all  of  us,  I  believe.  Take  that  one,  Mayor." 

She  indicated  the  large  armchair  with  the  rose- 
coloured  tapestry  in  which  Mollie  June  had  been 
ensconced  half  an  hour  before,  and  laid  her  own 
hand  on  the  back  of  the  smaller  one  close  by  in 
which  Merriam  had  sat. 

Then  she  turned  to  Mollie  June : 

"  Do  you  wish  to  leave  us,  dear,  or  to  stay?  " 

"  I'll  stay !  "  said  Mollie  June.  Her  colour  was 
still  high,  and  the  glance  she  threw  in  the  Mayor's 


AUNT  MARY  83 

direction  was  distinctly  hostile,  but  she  had  recov- 
ered her  self-control.  We  shall  be  able  to  forgive 
young  Merriam  a  throb  of  admiration  at  her 
spirit. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Aunt  Mary.  "  Sit  over  there, 
then.  Mr. — Wilson,"  she  added,  to  Merriam,  "  on 
that  table  yonder  you  will  find  a  humidor.  Pass 
the  cigars,  please.  And  pick  up  that  ash  stand  and 
set  it  here  by  the  Mayor." 

She  and  the  Mayor  and  Mollie  June  sat  down. 
Rockwell  remained  standing.  Merriam,  though 
somewhat  confused  at  having  turned  from  Norman 
into  Wilson,  hastened  to  do  as  he  was  bid.  He 
picked  up  the  ash  stand,  straightening  the  box  of 
matches  into  place,  and  brought  it  and  set  it  by  the 
Mayor's  chair.  Then  he  got  the  humidor,  opened 
its  heavy  lid,  and  passed  the  gold-banded  perfectos 
therein  to  the  Mayor  and  to  Rockwell. 

"  Are  you  leaving  me  out,  young  man? "  de- 
manded Aunt  Mary,  who  had  watched  him  in  ap- 
praising silence. 

Merriam  turned  to  her  with  the  humidor,  hesitat- 
ing. 

"  There  don't  seem  to  be  any  cigarettes,"  he  said. 
"  I  have  some  in  my  pocket." 

But  Aunt  Mary  leaned  forward  and  took  from 
the  humidor  a  package  of  "  little  cigars  "  that  had 
been  slipped  in  at  one  end  of  the  box  of  perfectos. 

"  No  cigarettes  for  me,"  she  said.  "  I  smoke 
when  I'm  with  men  so  as  to  be  one  of  them.  A 
cigarette  leaves  me  a  woman.  A  cigar,  even  one  of 


84        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

these  little  ones,  makes  a  man  of  me.  Give  me  a 
match,  please." 

With  what  seemed  to  himself  amazing  self-con- 
trol, Merriam  took  a  match  from  the  ash  stand, 
struck  it,  and  would  have  held  the  light  for  her. 
But  Aunt  Mary  took  it  from  him  and,  looking  all 
the  while  amazingly  like  his  own  mother,  deliber- 
ately and  efficiently  ignited  the  "  little  cigar." 

Then  she  looked  up  quizzically  at  Merriam,  blew 
out  the  match,  handed  it  to  him,  and  said,  "  Sit 
down,  Mr.  Wilson." 

Having  seated  himself,  Merriam  found  Aunt 
Mary  looking  intently  at  the  Mayor,  who  was  smok- 
ing and  returning  her  gaze. 

But  Rockwell  broke  in : 

"  How  much  do  you  know,  Miss  Norman?  And 
how  do  you  know  it?  "' 

"  As  to  how  I  know  it,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  "  that's 
my  own  business  for  the  present.  Not  because 
there  need  be  any  secret  about  it,  but  because  we 
haven't  time  for  explanations."  She  puffed  at  her 
little  cigar.  "  As  to  how  much  I  know,  I  believe  I 
understand  the  whole  affair — except  how  Mrs.  Nor- 
man came  into  it."  She  looked  at  Rockwell. 

That  gentleman  did  not  reply.  Merriam  broke 
the  silence: 

"  I  sent  for  her." 

He  said  it  very  well — not  defiantly,  but  as  a 
plain,  necessary  statement  of  fact. 

Aunt  Mary  turned  in  her  chair  to  look  at  him. 

"Ah!"  she  said. 


AUNT  MARY  85 

He  felt  that  lie  was  colouring  under  her  gaze. 
Perhaps  that  colour  answered  her  obvious  next 
question  as  to  why  he  had  done  so.  She  did  not  ask 
that  question,  but  turned  back  to  the  Mayor : 

"  I  overheard  a  little  of  your  conversation  from 
the  doorway  before  I  spoke.  Mr.  Eockwell  was 
saying  he  thought  that,  as  things  stand  now,  it 
would  be  best  for  you  to  sign  the  Ordinance.  I 
think  so  too." 

The  Mayor  would  have  interrupted,  but  she 
waved  her  little  cigar  at  him. 

"You  can,  of  course,"  she  continued,  "explain 
that  you  were  tricked.  But  how  much  would  that 
help  you  with  Mr.  Crockett  or  any  of  his  cronies 
and  allies?  They  would  only  think  the  worse  of 
you  and  throw  you  over  the  more  quickly.  A  man 
of  your  age  and  standing  cannot  afford  to  be 
tricked.  If  he  is,  he  had  better  conceal  the  fact. 
And  how  about  the  people  of  Chicago,  before  whom 
you  come  up  for  reelection  in  the  fall?  Will  their 
sympathies  be  with  you  or  with  the  persons  who 
tricked  you  into  giving  them  the  Ordinance  they 
wanted?  The  American  people  love  a  clever  trick. 
And  a  trick  is  clever  if  it  succeeds.  As  for  the 
illegality,  they  won't  care  a  picayune  for  that.  You 
said  you  would  fight  it  in  the  courts.  Well,  you 
might.  But  it  would  be  a  long  fight.  You  your- 
self mentioned  the  Supreme  Court.  And  in  the 
meantime  it  is  a  law  and  goes  into  effect  at  once. 
Unless,  of  course,  you  take  out  an  injunction.  And 
if  you  do  that,  you  will  make  yourself  so  unpopular 


86        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

that  you  can  never  even  be  nominated  again.  Let 
us  suppose  it  goes  into  effect.  Then  by  the  time 
your  fight  was  won,  if  you  won  it,  the  new  condi- 
tions would  be  established,  and  nobody  would  dare 
try  to  unscramble  the  eggs.  The  Council  would 
simply  have  to  pass  it  over  again,  and  you — or  your 
successor,  rather,  for  you  would  be  out  by  then — 
would  promptly  sign  it.  No,  my  friend,  there  is 
no  road  for  you  in  that  direction.  You  would  lose 
out  both  ways — with  the  bosses,  who  would  have 
no  more  use  for  a  man  who  had  allowed  himself  to 
be  fooled  at  a  critical  juncture,  and  with  the  people. 
Your  only  chance — unless  you  wish  to  retire  quickly 
and  ignominiously  to  private  life — is  to  cut  loose 
from  the  bosses  and  throw  in  your  lot  with  the 
people — sign  the  Ordinance,  claim  the  credit,  join 
forces  with  Rockwell  here,  defy  Crockett,  and  come 
out  as  the  people's  champion ! " 

The  Mayor  was  not  smoking.  He  was  looking 
hard  at  Aunt  Mary,  as  one  man  looks  at  another. 
(Her  little  cigar  had  effected  that.)  There  was 
aroused  interest  in  his  eyes. 

"  Wouldn't  you  rather  like  to  go  into  politics  as 
your  own  boss  for  a  change?"  Aunt  Mary  asked. 
"  Bather  than  as  one  miserable  little  cog  in  a  big, 
dirty  machine?  " 

The  Mayor  flushed  a  little  and  took  refuge  be- 
hind a  puff  of  smoke. 

"Perhaps  I  would,"  he  said.  Then,  suddenly: 
"How  about  Senator  Norman?  Do  I  defy  him 
too?" 


AUNT  MARY  87 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Aunt  Mary.  "  He  also  will 
go  over  to  the  people." 

"  Can  you  answer  for  Mm?  " 

"  I  think  I  can.  He  will  be  forced  to  do  so  in  the 
same  way  you  are.  He  too  has  been  victimised." 

She  leaned  forward  and  deposited  her  small 
cigar,  of  which  she  had  really  smoked  very  little, 
in  the  ash  tray.  Sitting  erect,  she  folded  her  hands 
in  her  lap  and  became  forthwith  a  woman  again — a 
sedate,  almost  prim,  elderly  woman. 

"  That,"  she  explained  simply,  "  is  the  source  of 
my  interest  in  this  matter.  I  like  you,  Mayor  Black, 
because  you  have  some  of  the  courtliness  of  the  old 
school  in  your  manner.  I  should  be  sorry  to  see 
you  in  misfortune.  But  I  care  much  more,  natu- 
rally, for  my  brother,  George  Norman,  and  more 
still  for  the  name  of  Norman  " — from  her  tone  she 
might  have  referred  to  the  Deity, — "  which  has  been 
an  honourable  name  in  this  country  for  eight  gen- 
erations, and  which  George,  with  his  spoils  politics 
and  his  dissipations,  is  compromising.  I  have  long 
wanted  him  to  break  with  his  present  associates, 
to  live  straight,  and  to  become  a  real  leader,  as  the 
Normans  were  in  New  York  State  in  the  early  years 
of  the  last  century.  I  have  tried  again  and  again 
to  get  him  to  do  so.  Over  and  over  he  has  promised 
me  he  would.  But  he  is  weak.  He  has  never  done 
it.  Now  he  will  have  to  do  it ! " 

All  the  members  of  the  little  group  looked  with 
some  admiration,  I  fancy,  at  Aunt  Mary,  sitting 
straight,  an  incarnation  of  aristocratic,  elderly 


88        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

femininity,  in  her  chair.  Where  a  moment  or  two 
before  she  had  been  an  unsexed  modern,  she  looked 
now  like  an  old  family  portrait. 

Rockwell  broke  the  momentary  silence: 

"  Miss  Norman  has  presented,  so  much  better 
than  I  could  have  done,  the  argument  which  I  tried 
to  suggest  to  Mr.  Black." 

It  was  probably  unfortunate  that  Rockwell  had 
recalled  attention  to  himself.  The  Mayor  glanced 
at  him  with  animosity,  and  at  the  silent  Mer- 
riam,  and  over  at  Mollie  June,  listening  eagerly 
in  the  background.  Then  at  Aunt  Mary  again. 
He  leaned  back,  pulling  at  his  cigar,  thinking 
hard. 

In  the  silence  a  slight  noise  became  audible  from 
the  bedroom  behind  Aunt  Mary — a  word  or  two  of 
whispering  and  then  a  sound  as  if  some  one  tip- 
toeing had  stumbled  a  little. 

The  Mayor  jumped  to  his  feet. 

"Who's  there?"  he  cried,  pointing. 

For  an  instant  Aunt  Mary  was  out  of  counte- 
nance. But  only  for  an  instant.  Then,  without 
rising  or  turning  her  head,  she  called : 

"  Come  in,  Alicia." 

A  moment's  silence.  Then  a  laugh,  of  a  pre- 
meditated sweetness  which  Merriam  remembered, 
and  Alicia  Wayward  stood  in  the  doorway. 

The  Mayor  and  Merriam  rose.  Mollie  June,  too, 
jumped  up.  Only  Aunt  Mary  remained  calmly 
seated. 

After  a  second's  pause  in  the  effective  framing  of 


AUNT  MAKY  89 

the  door,  Alicia  advanced  with,  an  air  of  eager 
pleasure  and  held  out  her  hand  to  the  Mayor. 

"  Good  evening,  Mr.  Black." 

The  Mayor  was  a  very  susceptible  male  where 
women  like  Alicia  were  concerned.  He  took  her 
hand. 

"  Good  evening,  Miss  Wayward."  But,  still  hold- 
ing the  hand,  he  looked  steadily  at  her  and  asked, 
"  Who  else  is  in  there?  " 

"  Who  else?  "  repeated  Alicia,  raising  her  pretty 
dark  eyebrows. 

"  Or  were  you  whispering  to  yourself?  "  pursued 
the  Mayor. 

Alicia  laughed  and  drew  her  hand  away.  "  It's 
only  Father  Murray."  Then,  raising  her  voice  a 
little :  "  You'll  have  to  come  in,  Father  Murray,  to 
save  my  reputation.  This  is  really  all  of  us,"  she 
added,  as  the  priest  rather  sheepishly  presented 
himself.  "  You  can  search  the  room  if  you 
like." 

She  smiled  at  him  in  the  manner  which  novelists 
commonly  describe  as  roguish. 

The  Mayor  smiled  back  at  her,  but  he  turned  to 
the  latest  arrival. 

"  Were  you  in  this  plot,  too,  Father  Murray?  " 

"  Indeed  he  was,"  Alicia  answered  for  him.  "  He 
didn't  quite  approve  of  it  at  first.  But  we  quite 
easily  converted  him.  So,  you  see,  it  can't  be  so 
black  as  it  first  seemed  to  you,  Mr.  Mayor.  And 
really,"  she  hurried  on,  "  you  ought  to  do  as  Miss 
Norman  suggests.  It's  a  splendid  chance  for  you. 


90        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

To  really  be  a — a  Man,  you  know!  And  I  can 
help." 

"  How  can  you  help?  "  asked  the  Mayor. 

"  I  am  quite  sure,"  said  Alicia,  "  that  I  can  get 
my  father  to  subscribe  quite  a  lot  of  money — a  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  say — to  your  campaign 
fund — yours  and  Senator  Norman's  and  the  Reform. 
League's." 

"  Is  Mr.  Wayward  so  keen  on  reform?  I  should 
think  he  had  had  nearly  enough  of  it.  They've 
practically  put  him  out  of  business,  these  re- 
formers." 

"  He's  rather  keen  on  me,  you  know,"  said  Alicia. 
"And  he  likes  Mollie  June  and  Miss  Norman  and 
George  Norman  and " 

"Father  Murray,  I  suppose,"  interrupted  the 
Mayor,  "  and  anybody  else  you  can  think  of.  You 
mean  you  can  get  it  out  of  him."  But  his  ap- 
preciative smile  made  a  compliment  of  the  accusa- 
tion. 

Alicia  only  raised  her  eyebrows  again. 

Aunt  Mary  rose  and  took  the  reins  of  business 
into  her  own  hands  once  more. 

"  I  should  be  willing  to  subscribe  something,  too, 
out  of  my  own  income,"  she  said.  "And  the  League 
can  raise  plenty  of  money.  You  won't  lack  for 
funds.  Here's  my  proposition,  Mr.  Black.  You 
lie  low  and  keep  still  till  noon  to-morrow.  Don't 
go  to  the  Council  meeting  at  all.  Keep  the  Or- 
dinance in  your  own  possession.  Refuse  to  see  any 
one.  See  what  the  papers  say  in  the  morning.  And 


AUNT  MARY  91 

wait  for  a  message  from  George  Norman.  If  by 
noon  to-morrow  he  telephones  you  that  he  will  go 
with  you,  will  you  go  over  to  the  League,  sign  the 
Ordinance,  break  with  Crockett  and  the  rest  of 
them,  and  appeal  to  the  people  on  your  own?  " 

The  Mayor  looked  from  Aunt  Mary  to  Alicia's 
appealing  and  admiring  eyes  and  back  at  Aunt 
Mary.  He  avoided  Rockwell  and  Merriam  and 
Mollie  June. 

"  That's  fair  enough,"  he  said.  "  I'll  do  that." 
Then :  "  You  know  where  Norman  is,  do  you?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Aunt  Mary.  It  was  plain,  however, 
that  she  did  not  intend  to  communicate  the  in- 
formation. 

"And  what  becomes  of  this  young  gentleman?  " 
The  Mayor  looked  at  Merriam. 

"  He  will  disappear  where  he  came  from." 

"  Well,  well,"  said  the  Mayor  genially,  "  it  has 
been  a  very  stimulating  evening.  Rather  like  a 
play.  You  have  certainly  put  me  in  a  box.  But 
I'll  admit  I'm  interested  in  your  suggestion,  Miss 
Norman.  I'll  think  it  over  carefully.  Now  I  be- 
lieve I'll  call  a  taxi." 

"  Let  me,"  said  Rockwell,  and  he  stepped  to  the 
telephone. 

The  Mayor  addressed  himself  to  Merriam: 

"  Will  you  bring  me  my  hat,  Mr. — Wilson?  " 

Merriam  was  near  the  writing  table  on  which  the 
hat  stood.  He  picked  it  up  and  brought  it. 

"  The  resemblance  is  marvellously  close,"  said 
the  Mayor,  studying  his  face.  "And  you  did  your 


92        HOLME'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

part  very  well,  young  man.  But  let  me  advise  you 
to  keep  away  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Senator 
Norman.  You  might  get  into  serious  trouble." 

Merriam  did  not  reply  or  smile  but  handed  him 
the  hat. 

"  There's  a  taxi  ready,"  said  Rockwell,  turning 
from  the  telephone  into  which  he  had  been  speak- 
ing. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  Mayor.  He  looked  at 
Mollie  June,  who  stood  some  distance  from  him : 

"  I  hope  you  will  forgive  me,  Mrs.  Norman,  for 
my — rudeness  earlier  this  evening.  I  am  afraid  I 
was  too  angry  then  to  know  what  I  was  saying." 

Like  Merriam,  Mollie  June  did  not  answer  or 
smile.  Possibly  she  was  imitating  his  demeanour. 
But  she  bowed  slightly. 

"  Really,"  interjected  Alicia,  "  Mollie  June  had 
never  seen  Mr. — Mr.  Wilson  since  before  she  was 
married  until  five  minutes  before  you  came  in." 

"  Quite  so.  Of  course,"  said  the  Mayor.  He 
held  out  his  hand  to  Aunt  Mary.  "  You  are  a  won- 
derful woman,  Miss  Norman." 

"  George  shall  telephone  before  noon,"  she  re- 
plied, shaking  hands  like  a  man. 

"  Till  then  at  least  you  can  depend  on  me." 

He  turned  to  Alicia. 

Alicia  kept  his  hand  a  long  minute.  "  We  have 
always  liked  you,  Mr.  Black — we  women,"  she  said. 
"  In  your  new  r61e  we  shall  admire  you  so  much !  " 

"  I  would  do  much  to  win  your  admiration,"  re- 
turned the  Mayor,  somewhat  guardedly  gallant. 


AUNT  MARY  93 

"  Good  night,  Father  Murray.  Good  night,  Rock- 
well— you  precious  reformer!  Good  night,  Mr. 
Wilson.  That's  only  a  stage  name,  isn't  it?  Well, 
good  night,  all !  " 

The  suave  politician  bowed  himself  out. 


THE   members   of  the  group   that   remained 
looked  at  one  another.    Alicia  dropped  into 
a  chair. 

"  Whew !  "  she  said. 

Father  Murray  crossed  quickly  from  the  door- 
way, where  he  had  stood  silent  ever  since  his 
shamefaced  entrance,  to  Aunt  Mary's  side. 

"  Wonderful,  Miss  Norman !  "  he  cried. 

Aunt  Mary  smiled  at  him — her  first  smile  in  that 
scene.  "  Thank  you,  Arthur,"  she  said. 

But  she  added  instantly  to  Eockwell : 

"See  if  George  is  there.  Telephone.  He  must 
be  by  now.  Then  you  and  Arthur  must  take  a  taxi 
and  go  after  him  and  bring  him  back  here.  The 
number  is  Harrison  3731." 

Rockwell  turned  back  to  the  telephone. 

Merriam  walked  over  to  Mollie  June  and  put 
his  hands  on  the  back  of  the  chair  in  which  she 
had  been  sitting  prior  to  the  entrance  of  Alicia. 

"  Hadn't  you  better  sit  down?  "  he  said. 

"  Yes,  if  you'll  move  it  up  a  little."  She  wanted 
to  be  closer  to  the  rest  of  the  group. 

He  pushed  the  chair  forward,  and  she  sat  and 
smiled  up  at  him : 

94 


A  SENATOR  MISSING  95 

"  Thank  you !  " 

A  woman's  eyes  are  never  so  appealingly  beauti- 
ful as  in  a  quick  upward  glance.  Merriam  fell  sud- 
denly more  deeply  in  love  with,  her  than  he  had  ever 
been.  And  he  was  for  the  moment  very  happy. 
There  was  something  between  them,  something  very 
slight,  as  tenuous  and  as  innocent  as  youth  itself, 
but  existent  and  precious. 

Rockwell  turned  from  the  telephone. 

"He's  not  there"  he  said,  "and  he's  not  been 
there." 

(There  was  a  tacit  conspiracy  among  them,  on 
account  of  Mollie  June,  not  to  refer  more  definitely 
to  George's  destination.) 

"  Not !  "  exclaimed  Aunt  Mary.  Like  the  men, 
she  was  still  standing.  She  looked  at  Alicia. 
"  The  driver  was  instructed  to  go  directly  there?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Alicia.  Then  she  added  in  a  low 
tone: 

"  The  driver  was  Simpson." 

"  Simpson ! "  Aunt  M!ary  echoed.  "  That's  dan- 
gerous. Why  didn't  you  tell  me  that  before?  " 

The  reader  will  have  guessed  the  explanation  of 
Aunt  Mary's  presence,  and  Alicia's  and  Father 
Murray's,  and  I  insert  it  here  only  to  gratify  his 
sense  of  acumen :  that  Alicia  and  Murray,  "  keep- 
ing an  eye  on  "  Mollie  June  and  Aunt  Mary  in  ac- 
cordance with  Rockwell's  plan,  in  the  hotel  lobby, 
had  witnessed  the  former's  unexpected  departure 
in  response  to  Merriam's  summons,  and  had  joined 
Miss  Norman  to  find  out  what  had  happened ;  and 


96        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT) 

that  Aunt  Mary,  who  was  more  than  a  match  for 
both  of  them,  especially  in  their  alarm  over  Mollie 
June's  being  dragged  into  the  affair,  had  obtained 
first  an  inkling  and  presently  the  whole  story  of 
the  plot,  and  had  insisted  on  coming  upstairs,  and 
had  entered  through  the  bedroom. 

Alicia  did  not  reply  to  Aunt  Mary's  question. 
Indeed  she  hardly  had  time  to  do  so,  for  Aunt  Mary 
followed  it  quickly  with  another  of  a  more  prac- 
tical character: 

"  What  time  is  it?  " 

Merriam  was  the  most  prompt  in  producing  his 
watch.  "  Ten  o'clock,"  he  said. 

"And  it  was  barely  eight  when  George  left  the 
hotel.  How  long  should  it  have  taken  to  get 
there?  " 

"  Less  than  half  an  hour,"  said  Rockwell. 

"Are  you  sure  he's  not  there?  They  might  have 
lied  to  you." 

"  They  might.     But  I  didn't  think  so." 

"  Mr.  Rockwell  and  I  can  go  and  see,"  volun- 
teered Father  Murray,  who  seemed  very  eager  to 
be  helpful. 

While  Aunt  Mary  was  considering  this  sugges- 
tion, Merriam  had  an  idea. 

"  My  voice  is  very  like  Senator  Norman's?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  said  Aunt  Mary. 

"  Then  let  me  telephone." 

"  Good ! "  cried  Rockwell.  "  From  the  bedroom." 
This  was,  of  course,  to  spare  Mollie  June. 


A  SENATOR  MISSING  97 

"  Very  well,"  said  Aunt  Mary. 

The  two  men  stepped  into  George  Norman's  bed- 
room— the  one  into  which  Mollie  June  had  earlier 
retreated.  As  they  did  so,  Aunt  Mary's  eyes  fol- 
lowed Merriam  with  the  appraising  look  which 
they  had  held  whenever  she  regarded  him  through- 
out the  evening. 

Rockwell  shut  the  door. 

"Harrison  3731,"  he  said.  "Say,  'This  is 
George  Norman,'  and  ask  for  '  Jennie.'  " 

The  telephone  was  on  the  night  table.  Merriam 
sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  bed  and  raised  the  in- 
strument. He  realised  that  he  had  not  the  slight- 
est idea  what  to  expect.  Rockwell  sat  beside  him, 
close  enough  to  hear  what  should  come  through  the 
receiver. 

In  a  moment  Merriam  had  the  connection.  A 
not  unmusical  voice  said:  "Who  is  it,  please? " 

"  This  is  George  Norman.     Is  Jennie  there?  " 

"Why,  Georgie,  boy!  Don't  you  know  me? 
You  always  do.  And  you  ought  to ! "  A  tender 
little  laugh  followed,  which  thrilled  Merriam  in 
spite  of  himself. 

"  I  didn't  at  first,"  he  answered  and  stopped  at  a 
loss. 

Rockwell  put  his  mouth  close  to  Merriam's  ear 
and  formed  a  tunnel  from  the  one  orifice  to  the 
other  with  his  hands.  "  Can  I  see  you  to-night, 
dearie?  "  he  prompted. 

"  Can  I  see  you  to-night,  dearie? "  Merriam 
obediently  repeated. 


98        MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"Oh,  can  you  come?  Goodie!  But" — the  un- 
mistakably loving  voice  was  lowered — "you  must 
be  careful,  Georgie." 

"Careful?"  Merriam  queried  cautiously. 

"  Yes.     Some  one  thinks  you're  here  already." 

"  Who?  " 

"I  don't  know.  Some  man.  He  wouldn't  tell 
me  who  he  was.  He  called  up  just  a  minute  ago. 
He  was  awfully  sure  you  were  here.  He  wouldn't 
believe  me  when  I  said  you  weren't.  Is  it  danger- 
ous?" There  was  a  touching  note  of  anxiety  in 
Jennie's  voice. 

"  I  guess  not." 

"  Can  you  come  anyway?  "  eagerly. 

"I'm  not  sure.  Don't  wait  for  me  long.  Til 
come  within  an  hour  if  I  can  get  away." 

"  You'll  telephone  again?  " 

"  Yes— if  I  can." 

"  Georgie,  boy !  "  There  followed  a  little  sound 
of  lips  moved  in  a  certain  way — unmistakably  a 
kiss. 

John  Merriam  played  up  with  an  effectiveness 
that  surprised  himself  very  much. 

"  Dearie !  "  he  whispered  tenderly  into  the  tele- 
phone, "  good  night ! " — and  abruptly  hung  up. 

"  You  don't  need  much  prompting !  "  exclaimed 
Rockwell,  rising.  "  Well,  she  didn't  lie  to  me." 

"No,"  Merriam  assented  confusedly.  Wiiatever 
else  he  had  anticipated  from  Norman's  mistress,  the 
disreputable  manicurist,  it  had  not  been  that  note 
of  sincere  affection  or  that  he  himself  would  be  for 


A  SENATOR  MISSING  99 

an  instant  carried  off  his  feet.  As  he  automatically 
followed  Kockwell,  who  made  for  the  sitting  room, 
he  was  unwillingly  conscious  of  a  new  charity  for 
George  Norman. 

"  He's  not  there,"  Eockwell  reported.  "And  he 
hasn't  been." 

"  Sure?  "  Aunt  Mary  looked  at  Merriam. 

Our  hero  nodded.  He  could  not  speak.  And  he 
dared  not  look  at  Mollie  June,  of  whose  bright  eyes 
fixed  on  his  face  he  was  nevertheless  acutely  aware. 

In  a  moment,  however,  it  was  of  Aunt  Mary's 
gaze  that  he  was  sensible.  She  seemed  to  read 
him  through.  He  thought,  ridiculously,  that  that 
momentary  telephonic  tenderness  could  not  be  hid 
from  her. 

But  when  she  spoke  her  question  both  relieved 
and  startled  him. 

"At  what  hour  in  the  morning  does  your  train 
go?" 

"  It  goes  to-night.    At  2 : 00  A.  M." 

"  If  George  is  back  here  by  then,  it  does,"  said 
Aunt  Mary.  "  If  not,  you  stay." 

"But  I  must  go  to-night,"  cried  Merriam,  sud- 
denly awakened  to  realities  and  feeling  as  though 
the  curtain  had  descended  abruptly  on  some  mad 
combination  of  melodrama  and  farce.  "I  must 
meet  my  classes  in  the  morning ! " 

Aunt  Mary,  who  must  have  sat  down  while  the 
two  men  were  telephoning,  rose  and  walked  up  to 
Merriam. 

"  Mr.  Merriam,"  she  said,  "  you  more  than  any 


one  else  are  responsible  for  the  present  situation — 
because  of  your  sending  for  Mrs.  Norman.  I  don't 
ask  why  you  did  that,  but  you  did  it.  If  you  hadn't 
stepped  outside  your  part  that  way,  I  verily  be- 
lieve, when  I  look  at  you,  that  the  trick  could  have 
been  played  as  Mr.  Rockwell  planned  it.  The 
Mayor  would  not  have  seen  Crockett  downstairs. 
I  don't  believe  he  would  have  recognised  you.  He 
would  have  signed  the  Ordinance  and  gone  away 
committed  and  ignorant  of  the  deception.  Now 
he's  only  half  committed,  and  he  has  recognised 
you  as  an  impostor.  If  he  doesn't  hear  from 
George  Norman  by  noon  to-morrow  as  I  promised, 
if  he  turns  against  us  and  tells  his  story,  he  can 
ruin  us — all."  ( She  said  "  all,"  but  she  glanced  at 
Mollie  June.)  "And  now  we  don't  know  where 
George  is.  As  soon  as  we  find  him,  you  can  go. 
But  Mayor  Black  must  get  a  message  from  Sen- 
ator Norman  before  noon  to-morrow — from  the  true 
one  or  the  false  one!  Do  you  see?  Until  we  find 
George  you  must  stay." 

"  Yes,  by  Jove ! "  cried  Rockwell.  "  You  can't 
back  out  now.  You  can  telegraph  to — where 
is  it?  " 

"  Riceville,"  said  Alicia,  who  was  leaning  ex- 
citedly forward  in  her  chair.  "  Oh,  you  will !  " 

Merriam  looked  at  Alicia.  The  same  combina- 
tion of  appeal  and  admiration  in  her  eyes  which  he 
had  seen  her  work  a  few  minutes  before  on  the 
Mayor  did  not  move  him. 

His  eyes  travelled  to  the  face  of  Mollie  June. 


A  SENATOR  MISSING  101 

She  was  not  leaning  forward,  but  sat  erect  on  the 
edge  of  her  chair.  There  was  a  flush  of  excite- 
ment— was  it  eagerness? — on  her  cheeks.  Unwill- 
ingly he  compared  her  with  the  warm  seductiveness 
of  the  voice  on  the  telephone.  She  was  not  like 
that, — though  perhaps  she  could  be.  But  she  was 
radiantly  bright  and  pure,  a  girl,  a  woman,  to  be 
worshipped — and  protected  from  all  evil.  He  re- 
membered how  he  had  wished  to  help  her.  He  had 
said  he  would  be  always  ready.  Now  was  his 
chance.  And  he  desired  passionately  to  expiate  his 
involuntary  infidelity  of  feeling  and  tone  over  the 
telephone.  He  rose  superior  to  the  cares,  the 
duties,  of  a  "professor,"  even  before  she  spoke. 

"  Oh,  please — Mr.  Merriam,"  she  said. 

Merriam  smiled  at  her,  but  looked  back  at  Aunt 
Mary. 

"  You  think  it  very  necessary?  "  he  asked — not 
because  he  had  not  decided  but  to  avoid  any  shadow 
of  compromising  Mollie  June  by  seeming  to  yield 
directly  to  her. 

"  I  do,"  said  Aunt  Mary. 

"  Then  of  course  I'll  stay,"  said  Merriam. 


CHAPTER  XI 

CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73 

FROM  a  sleep  which  had  been  heavy  but  was 
becoming  restless  and  dreamful,  Merriam  was 
awakened  about  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning  by 
a  knocking  at  his  door.  He  leaned  over  and  pulled 
the  little  chain  of  the  night  lamp,  and  as  the  light 
glowed  asked,  "  Who  is  it?  " 

"  Rockwell,"  came  the  answer. 

By  a  rather  athletic  bit  of  stretching  Merriam 
was  able  to  turn  the  key  in  his  lock  without  getting 
out  of  bed.  "  Come  in,"  he  called. 

Rockwell  entered,  closed  the  door  behind  him, 
and  stood  looking  down  at  Merriam,  who  had  lain 
back  on  his  pillow. 

"Slept  well?"  he  asked. 

"  Like  a  football  player,"  laughed  Merriam,  some- 
how ashamed  of  this  fact. 

"  Feeling  fit?  " 

"  Certainly.    Always  feel  fit." 

For  a  moment  longer  Rockwell  looked,  with  per- 
haps a  touch  of  an  older  man's  envy  of  the  un- 
conscionable imperturbability  of  youthful  health. 
Then  he  said: 

"  Well,  I  have  news." 

102 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     103 

Merriam  waited. 

"About  half  an  hour  ago  I  called  up  *  Jennie ' 
again.  When  I  said  I  was  a  friend  of  Norman's, 
she  admitted  he  was  there.  By  asking  a  good  many 
questions  I  learned  that  he  turned  up  about  two 
o'clock  this  morning  and  that  he  was  very  drunk. 
I  judge  he's  having  a  touch  of  D.  T.  '  Jennie '  was 
evidently  rather  disgusted  at  his  arriving  so  late 
and  in  that  condition — after  your  affectionate  tone 
earlier  in  the  evening,  you  know." 

Merriam  evaded  this  thrust  with  a  question: 

"  Where  can  he  have  been  in  the  meantime?  " 

"  That  is  a  point  on  which  we  shall  have  to  seek 
information  from  our  friend  Simpson.  Since  tele- 
phoning I  have  seen  Miss  Norman,  and  we  have 
agreed  to  order  breakfast  for  all  of  us  in  Senator 
Norman's  rooms  with  Simpson  to  serve  us.  He 
goes  on  duty  again  at  seven  o'clock,  and  I  have 
asked  that  he  be  sent  here  as  soon  as  he  reports  to 
take  a  breakfast  order." 

"  Why  here?  " 

"Well,  he  will  be  more  likely  to  talk  freely  to 
you  and  me  alone  than  to  you  and  me  and  Miss 
Norman — to  say  nothing  of  Mrs.  Norman.  And, 
if  he  has  played  some  trick  on  us,  he  might  refuse 
to  go  to  Senator  Norman's  suite,  but  this  room  will 
mean  nothing  to  him.  Of  course,  he  may  not  show 
up  at  all  this  morning.  Ah,  there  he  is,  I  hope !  " 

A  vigorous  knock  had  sounded  at  the  door.  It 
proved,  however,  to  be  only  a  porter  with  Merriam's 
suit  case  and  hand  bag,  for  which  the  industrious 


104      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Kockwell  had  also  sent  so  early  that  morning  to  the 
more  modest  hotel  at  which  Merriam  had  been 
registered. 

"  Now  I  can  dress,"  said  Merriam.  "  I  was 
afraid  I  should  have  to  turn  waiter  myself,  having 
only  evening  clothes  to  put  on." 

"  Yes,  get  into  your  things,"  said  Rockwell,  "  and 
let  me  think  some  more.  This  conspiracy  business 
takes  a  lot  more  thinking  than  mere  Reform ! " 

Merriam  hurried  through  a  bath — a  tubful  of  hot 
water  early  in  the  morning  was  so  unwonted  a 
luxury  to  a  citizen  of  Riceville  that  he  could  not 
bring  himself  to  forego  it  even  on  this  occasion — 
and  began  to  dress  carefully,  realising  with  pleas- 
ant excitement  that  he  was  to  have  breakfast  with 
Mollie  June. 

He  had  no  more  than  got  into  his  trousers  when 
another  knock  came  at  the  door. 

Rockwell  motioned  to  Merriam  to  step  into  the 
bathroom  and  himself  went  to  the  door.  "  Come 
in,"  he  said  and  opened  it,  keeping  behind  it. 

Sure  enough,  Simpson  stepped  into  the  room  with 
his  napkin  and  order  pad. 

Rockwell  promptly  closed  the  door  behind  him, 
locked  it,  and  stood  with  his  back  against  it.  He 
also  pushed  the  switch  for  the  center  chandelier — 
for  only  the  dim  night  lamp  had  been  on. 

In  the  sudden  light  Simpson  whirled  with  a 
startled  and  most  unprofessional  agility  to  face 
Rockwell. 

"  Good  morning,  Simpson." 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     105 

The  waiter  fairly  moistened  his  lips  before  he 
could  answer. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Rockwell." 

The  man's  face  was  certainly  haggard.  His  eyes 
even  were  a  trifle  bloodshot.  It  was  clear  he  had 
had  a  strange  night.  But  after  a  moment  of  hos- 
tile confrontation  the  professional  impassivity  of  a 
waiter — which  is  perhaps  the  ultimate  perfection 
of  sang  froid — descended  about  him  like  a  cloak 
and  mask. 

"I  was  sent  to  this  room — Mr.  Wilson's  room, 
I  understood — to  take  a  breakfast  order." 

"  Right,  Simpson ! "  cried  Merriam  cheerily, 
emerging  from  the  bathroom  in  his  shirt  sleeves. 

For  a  moment  the  human  gleamed  again  through 
the  eyes  of  the  functionary. 

"Are  you  Mr.  Wilson?  "  he  asked.  His  manner 
was  perfect  servility,  but  there  was  mockery  and 
malice  in  the  tone. 

"  Yes,  Simpson,"  said  Merriam.  "  This  morning 
I  am  Mr.  Wilson.  I  have  read  of  an  English  duke 
who  puts  on  a  new  pair  of  trousers  each  morning. 
But  I  go  him  one  better".  I  put  on  an  entire  new 
personality  each  morning." 

"  Very  good,  sir,"  was  the  ironical,  stage-butler 
reply  to  this  sally.  "  The  grapefruit  is  very  good 
this  morning.  Will  you  have  some?  " 

Merriam  glanced  at  Rockwell. 

"Very  likely  we'll  have  some,"  said  the  latter, 
"  but  we  want  something  else  first." 

"Before  the  grapefruit?"  inquired  Simpson. 


106      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"Yes,  before  the  grapefruit,"  said  Rockwell,  a 
trifle  sharply.  "And  what  we  propose  to  have  be- 
fore the  grapefruit  is  a  bit  of  talk  with  you,  Mr. 
Simpson — about  last  night.  Do  you  care  to  sit 
down?  "  He  pointed  to  a  chair. 

Simpson  was  undoubtedly  agitated,  but  he  con- 
trolled himself  excellently.  He  even  lifted  his 
eyebrows : 

"  I  hope  I  know  my  place,  sir." 

He  raised  his  pad  and  wrote  on  it. 

"  Grapefruit,"  he  said  with  insolent  suavity. 
"  For  two?  And  then  what?  We  have  some  ex- 
cellent ham." 

"  Damn  your  ham ! "  cried  Rockwell.  He 
snatched  the  man's  pad  and  threw  it  on  the  floor. 
"  Sit  down  in  that  chair  and  drop  this  damned  pose ! 
We're  going  to  talk  to  you  man  to  man." 

But  Simpson  only  stooped  and  picked  up  his  pad. 

"  Mr.  Rockwell,"  he  said,  "  I  know  my  place.  It 
is  a  very  humble  one.  It  is  to  take  orders — for 
meals,  to  be  served  in  this  hotel.  So  long  as  that 
is  what  you  want  I  am  yours  to  command.  But" — 
the  American  citizen  stood  up  in  him ;  no  European 
waiter  could  have  said  it — "  outside  of  that  I  am 
my  own  master  as  much  as  you  are.  When  you 
call  me  '  Mr.  Simpson '  and  tell  me  to  sit  down,  I 
don't  have  to  do  it.  And  I  don't  have  to  talk  of 
my  personal  affairs  unless  I  choose,  any  more  than 
any  one  else !  " 

For  an  instant  he  glared  at  Rockwell  as  one 
angry  man  at  another,  his  equal.  Then  he  quietly 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     107 

became  the  waiter  again.  He  lifted  his  pad  and 
poised  his  pencil : 

"  Shall  we  say  some  ham?  " 

Kockwell  looked  at  him  a  moment  longer.  Then 
he  laughed :  "  Ham  let  it  be !  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Simpson,  deferentially  writing. 
"And  some  baked  potatoes,  perhaps?  And  coffee?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Kockwell,  "  and  the  telephone  book. 
Hand  me  the  telephone  book,  please." 

Simpson  hesitated,  but  this  was  clearly  within 
the  line  of  his  duties. 

"Yes,  sir,"  he  said,  and  stepped  towards  the 
stand  on  which  the  book  lay. 

"  Wait ! "  said  Kockwell.  "  Perhaps  it  isn't 
necessary.  I  think  you  can  tell  me  the  number  I 
want." 

He  paused  a  moment  to  let  this  sink  in.    Then : 

"  Miss  Alicia  Wayward's  number.  I  see  I  shall 
have  to  bring  her  here.  You  see,"  he  explained 
pleasantly,  "  I  have  locked  the  door.  There  are 
two  of  us  against  you." 

He  indicated  Merriam,  who  still  stood  in  the 
bathroom  door,  following  the  progress  of  the  in- 
terview with  excited  interest. 

"We  are  going  to  keep  you  here,  not  by  any 
authority  that  we  as  guests  of  this  hotel  may  have 
over  you — as  you  have  very  well  pointed  out,  we 
have  none  in  such  a  matter, — but  by  simple  force, 
till  Miss  Wayward  can  come  down.  We  shall  see 
whether  she  can  make  you  talk." 

To  Merriam's  astonishment  the  waiter,  with  a 


108      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

sound  somewhere  between  a  sigh,  and  a  groan,  sank 
into  the  chair  which  he  had  thus  far  so  perti- 
naciously refused  to  take.  For  a  moment  he  stared 
at  the  floor.  Then  he  raised  his  eyes  to  Rockwell : 

"  What  do  you  want  to  know?  " 

"  That's  better,"  said  Rockwell,  leaving  the  door 
and  preparing  to  sit  down  opposite  Simpson. 
"  Will  you  have  a  cigar?  " 

Simpson  shook  his  head  and  repeated  his  ques- 
tion. 

"  What  do  you  want?  " 

Rockwell  dropped  into  his  chair  and  glancing  at 
Merriam  pointed  to  another  seat.  Merriam  was 
too  much  excited  to  care  to  sit  down,  but  he  came 
forward  and  leaned  on  the  back  of  the  chair. 

"  We  want  to  know  about  last  night,  of  course," 
said  Rockwell.  "At  five  minutes  to  eight  Senator 
Norman  got  into  the  taxi  which  you  were  driving. 
At  about  two  o'clock  this  morning  he  tumbled  into 
Madame  Couteau's,  delirious  with  drink.  We  want 
the  whole  story  of  what  happened  between  eight 
and  two." 

Simpson  sat  on  the  edge  of  his  chair,  his  hands 
on  his  knees.  His  order  pad  was  under  one  hand, 
and  its  flexure  showed  that  he  was  exerting  intense 
pressure.  His  napkin  dangled  loosely  half  off  his 
arm.  He  was  looking  at  the  floor  again. 

He  remained  in  this  position  for  a  number  of 
seconds,  the  other  two  men  intently  regarding  him. 
Then  he  straightened  up,  pushed  himself  farther 
back  in  his  chair,  and  looked  at  Rockwell. 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     109 

"  You  shall  have  it,"  he  said. 

For  a  moment  he  stared.     Then : 

"  I  hate  Senator  Norman — enough  to  kill  him." 

The  reader  will  observe  that  I  use  no  exclama- 
tion points  in  punctuating  Simpson's  sentence. 
There  were  none  in  his  delivery  of  it.  But  it  was 
the  more  startling  on  that  account. 

"  Do  you  know  why? "  he  unexpectedly  de- 
manded. 

"  No,"  said  Rockwell. 

"  Five  years  ago  I  was  butler  to  Mr.  Wayward. 
The — the — girl  you  call  Madame  Couteau  was  the 
parlour  maid  there.  Her  real  name  is  Jennie 
Higgins.  I  was  in  love  with  her,  and  she  had 
promised  to  marry  me.  I  had  a  little  money  saved 
up.  At  that  time  Senator  Norman's  first  wife  was 
still  alive,  who  was  Mr.  Wayward's  sister,  you 
know,  Miss  Wayward's  aunt.  Senator  Norman 
came  often  to  the  house.  He  took  a  fancy  to  Jennie 
and  turned  her  head.  The  fact  that  she  was  in  his 
own  brother-in-law's  house  made  no  difference  to 
him.  She — went  off  with  him — on  a  lake  cruise,  in 
his  yacht.  When  they  came  back  he  set  her  up  in 
that  flat  and  got  her  work  as  a  manicurist.  Ever 
since  he  has  been  her  paramour ! " 

The  odd,  old-fashioned  word,  which  Simpson 
must  have  gleaned  from  some  novel,  came  out 
queerly.  But  it  served  to  express  his  bitterness  as 
no  ordinary  word  could  have  done. 

"  That's  all.  A  parlour  maid  ruined.  A  butler 
cheated  of  his  wife.  It's  nothing,  of  course." 


110      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

He  was  looking  down  again.  Neither  Eockwell 
nor  Merriam  ventured  to  speak.  When  he  raised 
his  eyes  there  was  a  gleam  in  them. 

"Last  night  I  had  him  in  my  power."  (One 
sensed  novels  again. )  "  In  my  taxi,  not  knowing 
who  I  was.  I  was  minded  to  kill  him.  You  had 
told  me  to  drive  him  directly  to — to  Jennie's.  Not 
much!  I  drove  as  fast  as  I  dared  out  Michigan 
Avenue.  For  a  long  time  lie  suspected  nothing. 
He  thought  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  Mayor's,  and 
that  was  the  right  direction.  But  when  I  turned 
into  Washington  Park  he  got  scared.  He  called 
through  the  tube  to  know  where  in  hell  I  was  going. 
I  answered,  l  This  is  Simpson.  You  can  try  jump- 
ing, if  you  like — into  hell ! '  I  put  the  machine  up 
to  forty  miles  an  hour.  He  opened  the  door  once, 
but  I  guess  he  didn't  dare  try  it.  He  shut  it  again. 
Of  course,  it  was  pure  luck  I  didn't  get  stopped  for 
speeding.  But  I  got  through  Washington  Park 
and  across  the  Midway  and  out  into  a  lonely  place 
at  the  south  end  of  Jackson  Park.  Then  I  stopped 
and  got  down  and  opened  the  door  and  ordered 
him  out." 

The  man  stopped.  When  he  spoke  again  there 
was  more  contempt  than  hatred  in  his  voice. 

"  The  coward.  He  went  down  on  his  knees  on 
the  wet  road  and  cried  and  begged  me  not  to  hurt 
him.  He  said  he  was  sorry,  and  he  didn't  know  I 
cared  so  much,  and  he  would  make  it  all  right  yet. 
He  would  give  me  a  lot  of  money  and  set  me  up 
in  a  business,  and  I  could  marry  Jennie  after  all, 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     111 

and  wouldn't  I  forgive  him  and  go  back  to  town 
and  have  a  drink?  The  worm !  I  could  have  spit 
on  him.  Senator  Norman! 

"He  saved  his  life  all  right,"  he  added  re- 
flectively. "  If  he  had  showed  fight  I  would  have 
strangled  him  and  thrown  his  body  in  the  Lake." 
Simpson  shuddered  a  little.  "  But  you  couldn't 
strangle  a  crying  baby.  I  kicked  him  once  or 
twice.  But  what  more  could  I  do?  He  kept 
begging  me  not  to  hurt  him  but  to  go  back  to  town 
and  have  a  drink.  That  gave  me  an  idea.  I  jerked 
him  up  and  pitched  him  into  the  car  and  drove  back 
to  a  saloon.  We  sat  at  a  table  and  drank,  and  he 
kept  offering  me  money  and  saying  I  should  marry 
Jennie.  As  if  I  would  take  his  leavings!  He 
drank  a  lot.  I  only  took  one  or  two  to  steady  my 
nerves — poured  out  the  rest.  But  he  drank  four  or 
five  cocktails.  Then  we  went  on  in  the  taxi  to  an- 
other saloon  and  did  it  again.  And  then  to  an- 
other. And  about  midnight  we  ended  up  at  a  cheap 
dance  hall  on  the  Wesf  Side,  and  I  turned  him 
loose  among  the  roughnecks  and  the  women  there. 

"  He  was  pretty  drunk — told  everybody  who  he 
was  and  showed  his  money, — and  in  a  few  minutes 
a  lot  of  the  girls  were  around  him  to  get  the  money 
away  from  him.  Most  of  the  men  they  were  with 
didn't  mind — egged  them  on.  Pretty  soon  he  had 
a  dozen  couples  in  the  bar  with  him  and  was  paying 
for  drinks  all  around.  But  one  big  foreigner,  who 
was  with  the  prettiest  girl  in  the  room,  was  ugly. 
When  Norman,  after  buying  a  second  round  of 


112      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

drinks,  tried  to  kiss  his  girl,  he  roared  out  at  him 
and  knocked  him  down.  But  Norman  only  stum- 
bled up  again  with  his  lip  bleeding  and  begged  his 
pardon  and  handed  the  girl  a  fifty-dollar  bill  and 
bought  drinks  again.  And  then  he  got  his  arm 
about  another  girl  and  took  her  out  to  dance.  It 
was  an  hour  before  I  found  him  again.  He  was 
sitting  on  the  stairs,  with  his  collar  off,  crazy 
drunk — seeing  things — and  all  cleaned  out  as  to 
money. 

"  I  thought  then  he  was  about  ripe  for  what  I 
wanted.  I  carried  him  downstairs  and  put  him  in 
the  taxi  and  drove  to — Madame  Couteau's !  There 
I  carried  him  up  to  her  flat  and  propped  him 
against  the  door  and  knocked  and  then  waited  part 
way  down  the  stairs.  When  the  door  was  opened 
he  fell  in,  and  I  ran  downstairs  and  took  my  taxi 
home." 

Evidently  Simpson  had  finished  his  tale.  And 
it  had  done  him  good  to  tell  it.  He  was  much  less 
agitated  than  when  he  began.  He  looked  steadily 
rather  than  angrily  at  Rockwell. 

"  That's  the  story  you  wanted,"  he  said.  "  Of 
course  now  you  can  get  me  fired  and  blacklisted. 
It's  little  I'll  care." 

Rockwell  had  let  his  cigar  go  out  while  Simpson 
talked.  Now  he  lit  it  again  with  a  good  deal  of 
deliberation.  He  was  evidently  thinking.  Even 
Merriam  perceived  the  point  that  was  uppermost 
in  his  mind,  namely,  that  with  Norman  still  at 
Jennie's  they  had  need  of  Simpson's  silence  and 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     113 

would  be  likely  to  need  his  help  again.  They 
must  try  to  conciliate  him  and  win  his  loyal 
support. 

"  I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  do  anything  like 
that,"  Rockwell  began,  referring  to  Simpson's  de- 
fiant suggestion.  "  I  can  hardly  pronounce  your 
conduct  virtuous.  But  it  was  very  natural— very 
excusable.  It's  lucky  you  did  no  worse !  " 

(Merriam  had  a  sudden  vision  of  the  horrid  pre- 
dicament they  would  have  been  in  if  Norman  had 
actually  been  murdered  in  Jackson  Park  at  the 
very  time  when  he  was  impersonating  him  at  the 
hotel.) 

"  Still,"  continued  Rockwell,  "  I  think  you  made 
a  mistake." 

"A  mistake !  "  echoed  Simpson. 

"Yes. — Do  you  still  love — Miss  Higgins?" 

"  What's  that  to  you?  " 

"  Evidently  you  do.  Why  didn't  you  take  his 
offer — his  money,  and  marry  her?  It  would  have 
been  the  sensible  thing  to  do  and  the  kind  thing 
to  her.  You  might  be  happy  after  all.  Of  course, 
if  you're  too  stern  a  moralist! " 

The  man's  face  worked  queerly.  "  It's  not  that. 
But  she  wouldn't  have  a  waiter  now.  And  he 
wouldn't  have  done  it — let  her  alone." 

"Well,  perhaps  not,  as  things  stood.  But  he 
will  now.  Have  you  seen  the  morning  papers?  " 

"  The  papers?    No,  sir." 

"If  you'll  read  them  you'll  find  that  Senator 
Norman  has  broken  with  all  his  old  life  and  turned 


114      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

over  a  new  leaf  entirely,  which  he  can't  turn' back. 
You  have  helped  him  do  it,  in  fact ! " 

"  What's  the  idea? "  growled  Simpson  sus- 
piciously. 

"Listen,  Mr.  Simpson." 

Eapidly  Eockwell  sketched  the  principal  events 
which  had  taken  place  at  the  hotel  while  the  waiter 
was  driving  his  enemy  about  Chicago:  Merriam's 
impersonation,  the  Mayor's  failure  to  veto  the  Or- 
dinance in  time,  and  the  necessity  which  both  the 
Mayor  and  Norman  were  now  under  of  breaking 
with  the  "  interests  "  and  coming  out  as  the  can- 
didates of  the  Reform  League. 

"  In  that  role,"  he  concluded,  "  George  Norman 
will  have  to  lead  a  strictly  virtuous  life.  It  will 
be  the  business  of  his  friends  and  backers — my 
business,  for  example — to  see  that  he  does  so.  I 
will  personally  undertake  to  see  that  you  get  the 
money  he  promised  you.  All  you  will  have  to  do 
is  to  make  it  up  with  Jennie.  You  may  not  be  able 
or  willing  to  do  that  right  away.  But  in  a  few 

months There's  no  reason  why  you  shouldn't 

be  set  up  in  a  nice  little  business  of  your  own — a 
delicatessen  or  caterer's,  or  a  taxicab  firm,  OP 
whatever  you  would  like — in  some  other  city,  with 
Jennie  for  your  wife.  Will  you  think  it  over?  " 

Simpson  looked  at  Eockwell  and  then  at  Mer- 
riam. 

"  You  certainly  are  as  like  as  two  plates,"  he 
said  irrelevantly  to  the  latter. 

"Won't  you  think  it  over?"  returned  Merriam, 


CONFESSIONS  OF  WAITER  NO.  73     115 

as  persuasively  as  if  he  had  been  reasoning  with 
some  irate  patron  of  the  Riceville  High  School. 

"  Yes,"  said  Simpson  after  a  bit,  "  I'll  think  it 
over." 

"  In  the  meantime,"  said  Rockwell,  "  you  must 
keep  still  about  all  this,  of  course.  And  we  may 
need  your  help  again — for  taxi  driving  and  so 
forth." 

"  What  if  I  choose  to  blow  the  whole  thing?  " 

"  In  that  case  you  will  do  more  than  any  one 
else  could  to  help  Norman  to  the  thing  he  will  most 
want — a  reconciliation  with  Crockett  and  the  rest 
of  the  gang.  And  he  will  go  on  in  his  old  ways — 
Jennie  included." 

Rockwell  let  Simpson  digest  that  for  a  moment, 
and  then  said : 

"  Well,  think  it  over  as  you  have  promised.  And 
now  we  really  do  Want  breakfast." 

Simpson  got  to  his  feet.  He  straightened  the 
napkin  on  his  arm  and  mechanically  enunciated  his 
servile  formula: 

"Yes,  sir." 

"And,  Simpson ! " 

"  Yes,  sir?  " 

'.'  I  will  talk  with  you  again  this  afternoon.  Till 
then,  at  least,  keep  your  mouth  shut  and  think. 
Think  sensibly." 

"  Very  good,  sir." 

Waiter  No.  73  bowed  gravely  and  left  the  bed- 
room. 


CHAPTER  XII 

GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS 

WHEN  the  door  closed  behind  Simpson,  Bock- 
well  and  Merriam  naturally  looked  at  each 
other. 

"  Poor  fellow ! "  said  Merriam. 

In  spite  of  himself  his  mind  was  visited  by  a 
tantalising  recollection  of  Jennie's  voice  as  it  had 
come  to  him  over  the  telephone.  With  no  more 
evidence  than  that  he  was  inclined  to  think  that 
Simpson  was  right  in  saying  that  she  would  not 
have  a  waiter  now.  But  it  was  impossible  to  speak 
of  this  to  Rockwell. 

The  latter  had  apparently  dismissed  the  incident 
and  was  looking  at  his  watch. 

"  It's  nearly  eight  o'clock,"  he  said.  "  Put  the 
rest  of  your  things  on  and  go  down  to  Norman's 
rooms  on  the  next  floor.  You're  to  have  breakfast 
there  with  Miss  Norman  and  Mrs.  Norman.  You'd 
better  go  down  the  stairs  rather  than  in  the  ele- 
vator ;  you  will  be  less  likely  to  meet  some  one  who 
will  take  you  for  the  Senator.  I  am  going  to  hunt 
up  Dr.  Hobart,  the  house  physician  here,  and  take 
him  with  me  to  this  Madame  Couteau's,  or  Jennie's, 
to  see  Norman.  We  must  get  him  on  his  feet  at 
once.  A  hotel  physician  will  be  the  very  man  for 
that." 

116 


GKAPEFKTJIT  AND  TELEGRAMS        117 

"  I  must  shave,"  said  Merriam. 

"  Oh,  never  mind  that.     Time  is  precious." 

Merriam  thought  of  the  train  which  he  now 
planned  to  take.  It  left  at  nine-fifteen  and  would 
get  him  to  Biceville  a  little  after  noon.  He  re- 
membered, too,  that  he  must  telegraph  to  his  as- 
sistant principal  that  he  would  miss  the  morn- 
ing session.  And  he  thought  of  the  coming  break- 
fast hour  with  Mollie  June.  Certainly  time  was 
precious  to  him.  Nevertheless  he  said  decidedly: 

"  I'm  going  to  shave  all  the  same." 

Rockwell  looked  at  him  with  a  comprehending 
smile.  "All  right,  my  boy,"  said  the  older  man. 
"  Doubtless  it's  very  necessary.  Hurry  up  and  try 
not  to  cut  yourself.  I'll  run  along  with  the  doctor." 

He  moved  to  the  door,  stopped  with  his  hand  on 
the  knob  to  say,  "  I  shall  probably  drop  in  at  the 
rooms  before  you're  through  breakfast,"  and  was 
gone. 

Merriam  sighed  a  certain  relief  and  went  into 
the  bathroom  to  shave. 

A  few  minutes  later,  following  Rockwell's  in- 
junction, he  descended  to  the  floor  below  by  the 
stairs  rather  than  the  elevator.  He  forgot  even  to 
look  at  the  pretty  floor  clerk  on  Floor  Three,  who 
last  night  was  wearing  his — Norman's — violets. 

When  he  knocked  at  the  door  labeled  323  it  was 
the  voice  he  most  desired  to  hear  that  said, 
"  Come  in." 

He  opened  the  door.  The  rose-and-white  room 
was  bright  with  morning  sunshine,  and  half  way 


118      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

down  its  length  Mollie  June,  in  a  blue  satin  break- 
fast coat,  with  a  lacy  boudoir  cap  covering  her  hair, 
was  standing  before  the  little  table  which  held  the 
bowl  of  roses. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr. — John,"  she  said. 

He  half  perceived  that  her  voice  sounded  tired 
and  a  little  sad.  But  the  daintiness  of  breakfast 
coats  and  boudoir  caps  was  as  strange  in  Merriam's 
world  as  white  shoulders  were.  His  eyes  drank  it 
in  delightfully.  In  his  pleasure  her  note  of  sad- 
ness escaped  him.  He  answered  almost  gaily : 

"  Good  morning — Mollie  June !  " 

His  tone  probably  betrayed  his  mood,  and  I  dare 
say  Mollie  June  guessed  the  reason  for  his  happi- 
ness. But  she  ignored  both  mood  and  reason.  She 
had  turned  back  to  the  roses. 

"  Come  and  help  me,"  she  said.  "  These  flowers 
must  have  fresh  water." 

Merriam  pushed  the  door  shut  behind  him  and 
advanced  rapidly.  I  am  almost  afraid  he  might 
have  taken  her  in  his  arms.  But  Mollie  June  was 
already  half  way  across  the  room  with  the  roses,  to 
lay  them  on  a  newspaper  which  she  had  previously 
spread  on  the  seat  of  a  straight-backed  chair.  So 
all  that  Merriam  got  his  hands  on  was  the  bowl. 

"  Empty  it  in  there,"  said  Mollie  June,  indicat- 
ing the  bathroom  between  the  sitting  room  and 
Norman's  empty  bedroom,  "and  fill  it  with  cold 
water." 

Thankful  that  no  reply  was  immediately  de- 
manded, Merriam  did  as  he  was  bid. 


•GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS        119 

When  lie  reentered  the  sitting  room  with  the 
fresh  water,  Mollie  June  stooped  over  the  chair, 
gathered  up  the  roses,  and  came  towards  him. 

"  Set  it  back  in  the  same  place,"  she  said. 

Merriam  did  so,  and  she  came  up  to  him — that 
is  to  say,  to  the  bowl — and  inserted  the  stems  all 
together,  and  with  her  pink  fingers  wet  from  the 
cool  water  deftly  arranged  the  blossoms.  Then, 
drying  her  finger  tips  on  a  very  small  handkerchief, 
she  turned  and  raised  her  eyes  to  him  gravely.  He 
saw  at  last  that  she  was  pale — that  she  had  been 
wakeful.  Perhaps  she  had  been  crying.  In  sudden 
concern  he  stood  dumb. 

"  Did  you  sleep  well?  "  she  asked. 

He  mustered  his  forces  to  reply. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  did,"  he  said,  ashamed. 

She  looked  at  him  forgivingly. 

"  Of  course  you  must  have  been  dreadfully  tired," 
she  said.  "  I  hardly  slept  at  all,"  she  added.  "  I 
am  terribly  worried  about  George.  We  didn't  even 
know  where  he  was  until — a  little  while  ago." 
Evidently  Rockwell  had  already  reported  some 
part,  at  least,  of  Simpson's  disclosure. 

For  a  moment  they  stood  silent,  tacitly  avoiding 
reference  to  George  Norman's  ascertained  where- 
abouts. 

Then  Mollie  June  raised  her  eyes  again. 

"I'm  worried,  too,  about — what  we  did  last 
night.  We  mustn't  do — so,  again." 

She  met  his  eyes,  very  serious. 

"  No !  "  Merriam  assented. 


120      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I  can't  call  you  '  Mr.  Merriam/  though,"  she 
cried.  "And  I  mustn't  call  you  i  John.'  I've  de- 
cided to  call  you  '  Mr.  John ' ! " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam  gravely.  He  was 
deeply  touched  by  the  unconscious  confession. 

Mollie  June  turned  away.  "  I  must  tell  Aunt 
Mary  you  are  here." 

Just  then  there  came  a  knocking  at  the  hall  door. 

For  an  instant  the  boy  and  girl  stared  at  each 
other  as  though  in  guilty  alarm.  Merriam  started 
to  go  to  the  door.  But  Mollie  June  had  recovered 
her  wits. 

"  No,"  she  said.  "  You  must  be  careful  about 
being  seen.  Sit  there."  She  pointed  to  the  arm- 
chair which  still  faced  the  gas  log  between  the  win- 
dows at  the  end  of  the  room  farthest  from  the  hall. 
"  I'll  see  who  it  is." 

It  proved  to  be  no  one  more  dangerous  than 
Simpson,  who  with  an  assistant  was  prepared  to 
set  up  a  table  in  the  sitting  room  and  serve  the 
grapefruit. 

And  even  while  Mollie  June  was  bidding  him 
come  in,  Aunt  Mary  entered  from  the  bedroom. 
With  her  was  Miss  Alicia  Wayward,  apparently 
much  excited,  with  her  hands  full  of  newspapers. 

Merriam  stood  up,  and  Alicia,  catching  sight  of 
him,  dropped  on  the  floor  the  paper  she  held  in  her 
right  hand  and  advanced  with  an  air  of  eagerness. 

"Oh,  Mr. ,"  she  began.  Then,  as  Merriam 

took  her  hand,  she  stopped  short  in  her  sentence, 
laughed,  and  said,  "Who  are  you  this  morning?" 


GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS        121 

Merriam,  whom  Alicia  always  stimulated  to  play 
up,  bowed  over  her  hand  as  elegantly  as  he  could 
and  replied: 

"  Senator  Norman,  I  believe — at  your  service. 
Good  morning,  Miss  Norman,"  he  added,  politely, 
to  the  older  woman. 

Aunt  Mary  merely  nodded,  rather  grimly,  and 
turned  away  as  if  to  inspect  Simpson's  preparation 
of  the  breakfast  table.  Merriam  wondered  how 
much  of  Simpson's  confession  Rockwell  had  found 
time  to  report  to  her. 

But  Alicia  gave  him  little  time  for  speculation. 

"  Well,  Senator,"  she  rejoined,  withdrawing  her 
hand  (you  were  always  conscious  when  Alicia  gave 
her  hand  and  when  she  withdrew  it) ,  "  you  and  the 
Mayor  have  made  quite  a  noise  in  the  world  this 
morning.  See ! " 

She  displayed  the  newspaper  which  she  still  held 
in  her  left  hand.  It  was  one  of  the  leading  Chicago 
dailies,  which  invariably  prints  one  bold  black 
headline  across  the  top  of  the  entire  front  page. 
The  topic  may  be  a  world  war  or  a  dog  fight,  but 
the  headline  is  always  there  in  the  same  size  and 
startling  blackness  of  type.  This  morning  it  read : 

Mayor  Black  Signs  Ordinance 

And  one  of  the  columns  below  carried  the  further 
head: 

The  Mayor  and  Senator  Norman 

Reported  to  Have  Broken 

With  Traction  Interests 


122      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Oh. ! "  exclaimed  Mollie  June,  who  had  ap- 
proached and  read  these  captions.  She  looked  at 
Merriam  with  wide-open  eyes.  I  surmise  that  the 
newspaper  headlines  gave  her,  as  indeed  they  gave 
to  Merriam  himself,  the  first  actual  realisation  of 
the  public  interest  attaching  to  what  they  had 
really  felt  to  be  a  little  private  drama  of  their  own. 

Aunt  Mary  had  joined  them. 

"  Mr.  Black  has  definitely  signed  it,  you  see," 
she  said,  with  a  touch  of  triumph  in  her  tone. 

It  appeared  that  the  Mayor  had  not  gone  to  the 
Council  meeting  at  all,  and  the  paper  did  not  fail 
to  point  out  that  the  Ordinance  had  become  law 
without  his  signature,  under  fie  provisions  of  the 
City  Charter,  at  nine  o'clock;  but  late  in  the  even- 
ing, shortly  before  the  Council  adjourned,  the  docu- 
ment had  arrived  by  a  messenger,  with  the  Mayor's 
signature  attached. 

Keporters  had  immediately  set  out  in  relentless 
pursuit  and  had  routed  the  Mayor  out  of  bed  at  his 
house  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock  and  obtained 
a  brief  interview ;  the  substance  of  which  was  that 
the  public  interest  of  the  city  demanded  the  im- 
proved conditions  which  the  new  law  would  insure, 
and  that  he  was  proud  to  complete  with  his  ap- 
proval the  public-spirited  action  of  the  Councilmen 
in  passing  it. 

The  rest  was  mere  rumour  and  speculation,  in- 
terlarded with  many  prudent  "  it  is  said's,"  but  it 
seemed  that  some  if  not  all  of  it  must  have  been 
inspired  by  the  Mayor.  "  It  was  said  "  that  an  im- 


GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS        123 

portant  representative  of  the  Traction  interests  had 
seen  Senator  Norman  in  his  rooms  at  the  Hotel 
De  Soto  early  in  the  evening  and  pleaded  with  him 
the  cause  of  the  interested  bondholders  and  stock- 
holders, whose  investments  would  be  imperilled  by 
the  changes  involved,  but  that  he  had  stood  firm  on 
the  ground  of  the  public  welfare.  "  It  was  said," 
too,  that  later  Mayor  Black  had  had  a  long  confer- 
ence with  the  Senator — well,  it  had  been  rather 
long, — and  that  they  had  agreed  that  the  interests 
of  the  plain  people  of  Chicago  must  at  all  costs 
decide  the  issue.  "  It  was  said,"  finally,  that  both 
Senator  Norman  and  Mayor  Black  would  probably 
join  forces  with  the  Reform  League,  whose  program 
they  had  finally  so  powerfully  supported,  in  de- 
manding and  obtaining  other  needed  improvements 
in  municipal  conditions. 

From  all  of  which  it  seemed  to  be  clear  that  the 
Mayor,  having  taken  an  hour  or  so  to  think  over 
the  situation  in  which  he  found  himself,  had  be- 
come convinced  of  the  soundness  of  Aunt  Mary's 
logic  and  had  decided,  without  waiting  for  any 
further  communication  from  the  Norman  camp,  to 
claim  the  credit  for  the  Ordinance  and  appeal  for 
popular  support  thereon,  taking  care,  however,  to 
involve  Senator  Norman's  name  so  that  the  real 
Norman  should  be  compelled  to  join  forces  with 
him  in  his  new  departure. 

By  the  time  the  column  of  news  and  comment 
and  a  brief  and  cautious  editorial  on  the  occurrence 
had  been  read  out  by  Alicia  and  one  or  two  other 


124      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

papers  glanced  at,  Simpson  had  set  up  and  laid  his 
table  and  had  his  first  course  served.  He  respect- 
fully approached  and  inquired  if  they  were  ready 
for  breakfast. 

"  Certainly !  "  said  Aunt  Mary. 

Merriam  looked  at  his  watch.  It  was  half  past 
eight. 

"  I  ought  to  send  my  telegram  to  Riceville  first," 
he  said,  "  to  let  them  know  I  shall  be  there  on  the 
noon  train." 

"After  the  grapefruit,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  with  a 
decided  note  in  her  voice  which  led  Merriam  to 
look  at  her  inquiringly. 

But  he  desired  to  exhibit  the  coolness  of  a  man 
of  the  world,  to  whom  telegrams  were  customary 
incidents  of  daily  living  and  who  habitually  ran 
close  to  the  wind  in  the  matter  of  trains.  So  he 
acquiesced  with  a  bookish  "As  you  please,"  and 
moved  with  the  others  to  the  table. 

Simpson  had  decorated  the  center  of  the  board 
with  one  of  the  hotel's  slim  glass  vases  holding  a 
couple  of  pink  carnations.  Mollie  June  regarded 
this  ornament  with  disfavour. 

"  Let's  have  the  roses  instead,  Mr.  John,"  she 
said. 

And  Merriam,  to  the  scandal  of  Simpson,  him- 
self removed  the  carnations  and  set  the  bowl  of 
roses  in  their  place. 

They  said  little  over  the  grapefruit.  Alicia 
added  a  few  humorous  comments  on  points  in  the. 
newspaper  article,  but  Aunt  Mary  was  divided  be- 


GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS        125 

tween  an  anxious  absent-mindedness  and  a  curious 
questioning  scrutiny  of  Merriam,  and  Merriam  was 
distracted  between  a  suppressed  worry  over  his: 
telegram  and  approaching  train  time  and  the  de- 
light of  stolen  glances  at — Mrs.  Senator  Norman. 
As  for  Mrs.  Senator  Norman,  she  devoted  herself 
chiefly  to  the  fruit.  Once  or  twice,  in  looking  up, 
she  almost  unavoidably  intercepted  one  of  Mer- 
riam's  guilty  glances.  When  this  happened,  she 
met  his  eyes  frankly  but  with  a  gravity  that  was 
pathetically,  forgivingly  rebuking. 

Presently  Simpson  was  removing  the  fruit  rinds 
and  placing  finger  bowls.     Merriam  looked  quickly 
at  his  watch  again  and  spoke  to  the  waiter : 
"  Bring  me  a  telegraph  form,  please." 
Aunt  Mary's  absent-mindedness  instantly  van- 
ished. 

"What  message  are  you  going  to  send?"  she 
asked  in  a  restrained  voice. 

"  Missed  night  train.  Will  arrive  at  noon." 
"  No !  "  said  Aunt  Mary.  "  Mr.  Merriam,"  she 
pursued  quickly,  "until  George  is  brought  back 
here  you  must  stay.  After  all  this  in  the  papers 
this  morning  there  will  be  scores  of  people  to  see 
him  to-day.  He  is  known  to  be  a  late  riser  and. 
never  sees  any  one  before  ten  or  they  would  have 
been  here  before  this.  In  a  very  few  minutes  they 
will  begin  to  come.  We  will  put  off  most  of  them, 
of  course.  But  there  are  likely  to  be  some  whom 
we  can't  put  off.  We  can't  tell  where  George  is, 
and  we  can't  say  we  don't  know  where  he  is,  and 


126      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT) 

there  will  be  one  or  two  to  whom  we  can't  say  we 
won't  tell  where  he  is.  We  must  have  you  in  re- 
serve. You  shall  go  to  bed  in  George's  room,  ill 
with — with — lumbago.  Dr.  Hobart  will  attend 
you.  When  absolutely  necessary  we  can  show  a 
man  into  the  room,  and  you  can  say  a  few  words. 
I  will  tell  you  what  to  say  in  each  case.  You  can 
have  your  head  half  way  under  the  covers,  and  can 
make  your  voice  weak  and  husky.  You  will  be 
safe  enough  from  detection.  Then  by  this  even- 
ing at  the  latest  we  shall  bring  George  back,  and 
you  can  go  down  to  Kiceville  on  the  night  train. 
You  will  only  have  missed  one  day,  and  you  will 
have  saved  us  from  a  most  serious  dilemma." 

There  was  an  appeal  in  the  elderly  woman's 
voice  to  which  Merriam  was  not  insensible,  though 
the  pull  of  habitual  regularity  at  his  school  was 
strong  in  him. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  Alicia  spoiled  Aunt  Mary's 
effect.  Across  the  table  from  Merriam,  she  was 
partly  hidden  from  him  by  the  flowers.  But  she 
leaned  forward,  bringing  her  face  almost  beside  the 
roses,  and  spoke  in  her  most  honeyed  tones : 

"  Oh,  do,  Mr.  Merriam !  How  can  you  resist  it?  " 
she  added.  "  If  I  were  a  man  and  had  the  chance 

to  be  Mollie  June's  husband  even  for  a  day " 

She  stopped  with  her  archest  smile. 

Mollie  June,  with  possibly  the  slightest  aug- 
mentation of  colour,  brought  forward  a  practical 
argument. 

"  Since  you  will  miss  the  morning  anyway,  it 


GRAPEFRUIT  AND  TELEGRAMS    127 

won't  much  matter  if  you  miss  the  whole  day. 
You  haven't  but  one  class  in  the  afternoon,  have 
you?  " 

"  Only  senior  algebra,"  said  Merriam. 

"  Miss  Eldon  can  take  that." 

"  I  suppose  she  could,"  said  Merriam,  who  was 
realising  that  on  this  particular  day  advanced 
algebra  would  be  to  him  the  most  distasteful  of  all 
branches  of  human  learning. 

"  Then  you'll  stay  and  help  us — Mr.  John !  " 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  this  simple  appeal 
was  really  much  superior  to  any  which  the  too 
sophisticated  and  calculating  Alicia  could  contrive. 
A  touch  of  wistfulness  came  into  Mollie  June's  face 
with  the  word  "help."  His  high  promise  of  the 
night  before  was  irresistibly  recalled.  And  "Mr. 
John  "  reminded  him  of  the  delightfulness  of  fresh 
water  for  roses  and  of  the  unconscious  confession 
which  her  compromise  name  for  him  had  implied. 

Alicia  discreetly  retired  behind  the  roses,  and 
Aunt  Mary  waited  with  lips  somewhat  grimly 
pursed. 

Then,  while  Merriam  hesitated,  with  his  eyes 
on  Mollie  June's  face — we  must  suppose  that 
he  was  weighing  her  very  practical  argument, — the 
telephone  rang. 

Simpson,  with  telegraph  blanks  in  his  hand,  an- 
swered it,  and  reported  that  Mr.  Rockwell  wished 
to  speak  to  Senator  Norman. 

"  This  is — Norman,"  said  Merriam  cautiously 
into  the  telephone. 


128      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"Ah !  "  said  Rockwell's  voice.  "  Well,  you'll  be 
pleased  to  learn  that  you  are  quieter.  You  aren't 
seeing  things  any  more."  (I'm  not  sure  of  that, 
thought  Merriam.)  "But  you,  he  has  a  severe 
cold — fever  and  a  cough — touch  of  bronchitis,  prob- 
ably. Hobart  says  he  can't  possibly  be  moved  till 
to-night.  Anyway,  I  don't  see  how  we  could  get 
him  into  the  hotel  till  then.  You  must  stay,  Mer- 
riam." 

"All  right,"  said  Merriam,  surprising  his  in- 
terlocutor by  his  ready  acquiescence,  "  I'll  stay." 

"  Good !  I'll  be  down  at  the  hotel  in  half  an 
hour."  Rockwell  rang  off. 

Merriam  turned  to  face  the  three  women. 

When  Aunt  Mary  heard  the  news  about  George, 
she  held  out  her  hand  to  Simpson  for  the  telegraph 
forms  and  wrote. 

In  a  moment  she  read: 

" '  111  with  a  touch  of  bronchitis.  Hope  to  be 
back  to-morrow.  John  Merriam.'  Will  that  do?  " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  he  assented. 

His  words  were  almost  drowned  by  a  loud  knock 
at  the  door. 

"  Our  day  has  begun,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  rising 
with  admirable  composure.  She  handed  the  tele- 
gram to  Simpson.  "  Send  it  at  once.  Into  the 
bedroom,  Mr.  Merriam.  Get  into  bed  as  soon  as 
you  can.  You  have  bronchitis,  you  know, — not 
lumbago." 

But  before  Merriam  could  obey  the  door  was  sud- 
denly opened. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

A  CHANGE  OP  MANAGEMENT 

THE  man  who  thus  burst  into  Senator  Nor- 
man's sitting  room  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  without  waiting  for  an  invitation  was  an 
unpleasant  but  important  personage — none  other 
than  J.  J.  Thompson  (one  never  thought  of  call- 
ing him  "Mr."),  Norman's  private  political  man- 
ager in  all  matters  that  involved  handling  the  peo- 
ple's vote. 

He  was  a  short,  stoutish,  belligerent  type,  about 
forty-five,  with  thin,  untidy  hair,  a  thin,  untidy 
moustache,  and,  somewhere  between  the  moustache 
and  the  hair,  a  pair  of  small  blue  eyes,  which 
seemed  incapable  of  any  other  expressions  than 
aggressiveness  and  anger.  Senator  Norman — the 
real  Norman — had  long  found  him  nearly  as  dis- 
agreeable as  the  reader  will  find  him,  but  so  use- 
ful in  many  political  contingencies  that  he  had 
never  been  able  to  bring  himself  to  dispense  with, 
him. 

Having  popped  explosively  into  the  room, 
Thompson  stopped  short  at  sight  of  the  three 
women.  For  the  first  instant  or  two  he  did  not 
notice  Merriam,  who  had  quietly  slipped  into  the 

129 


130      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

great  armchair  that  faced  the  gas  log,  with  his  back 
almost  squarely  to  the  room. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Thompson,"  said  Aunt 
Mary.  "  We  were  just  having  breakfast." 

Alicia  and  Mollie  June  still  sat  at  the  table,  and 
Simpson  stood  a  little  at  one  side.  Thompson 
knew  who  the  two  girls  were,  and  they  knew  who 
he  was,  but  he  had  never  been  presented  in  Nor- 
man's family  except  to  Miss-  Norman — a  fact  which 
he  resented  keenly, — so  they  did  not  speak.  Alicia 
sat  back  in  her  chair  and  stared  insolently,  while 
Mollie  June  leaned  forward  and  rearranged  a  rose 
in  the  bowl. 

"  I'm  sorry  to  break  in  this  way,"  Thompson 
said — even  he  was  slightly  abashed, — "  but  I've  got 
to  speak  to  the  Senator." 

"  Come  back  a  little  later,  Mr.  Thompson,"  ven- 
tured Merriam  in  a  hoarse  whisper. 

The  "  Mr."  was  a  false  note,  and  its  effect  was 
to  anger  Thompson. 

"  No !  "  he  cried,  the  pugnacious  gleam  that  was 
never  far  below  the  surface  of  his  little  eyes  ap- 
pearing in  them.  "  I've  got  to  speak  to  you  now ! 
I've  got  a  right  to !  " 

He  advanced.  He  would  have  passed  the  table 
so  as  to  approach  Merriam.  But  there  was  only  a 
narrow  space  on  either  side  of  it,  and  in  one  of 
those  avenues  stood  Simpson  behind  Alicia,  while 
Aunt  Mary  had  quietly  moved  into  the  other,  stand- 
ing with  her  hand  on  the  back  of  the  chair  in  which 
Merriam  had  been  sitting.  So  Thompson  found 


A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT         131 

himself  barricaded,  as  it  were,  and  stopped  short 
and  shouted  across  the  table  and  over  the  head  of 
Mollie  June. 

"  What  in — what's  the  meaning  of  all  this — this 
stuff  in  the  papers?  " 

Thompson's  difficulty  in  expressing  himself  un- 
der the  handicap  of  the  interdiction  against  pro- 
fanity imposed  by  the  presence  of  the  women  was 
a  trifle  ludicrous.  But  his  tone  and  manner  were 
almost  as  bad  as  an  oath  would  have  been. 

Alicia's  eyebrows  rose.     She  rose  herself. 

"  Perhaps  we  had  better  withdraw,"  she  said. 

If  Merriam,  who  had  never  seen  her  in  any  other 
than  a  gracious  and  seductive  mood,  could  have 
turned  his  head  to  look,  he  would  have  marvelled  at 
her  freezing  disdain.  Mollie  June  imitated  her  in 
rising  and  in  a  more  youthful  hauteur.  Without 
waiting  for  any  reply  Alicia  turned  and  walked 
into  the  bedroom,  and  Mollie  June  followed. 

But  feminine  disdain,  however  magnificent,  had 
little  effect  on  Thompson.  He  was  obviously  re- 
lieved. He  looked  at  Aunt  Mary,  plainly  desiring 
that  she  should  go  too. 

"  No,  I  think  I'll  remain,  Mr.  Thompson,"  she 
said  pleasantly. 

Then  he  looked  at  Simpson,  and  the  latter  cast 
an  inquiring  glance  at  Aunt  Mary. 

"You  may  stay,  please,  Simpson,"  said  she. 
"We  shall  be  finishing  our  breakfast  pres- 
ently." 

Before  Thompson  could  digest  this  snub  Alicia 


132      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

reentered  from  the  bedroom.  She  carried  a  white 
knitted  wool  scarf,  with  which  she  went  to  Mer- 
riam. 

"  Don't  you  feel  chilly,  George? "  she  asked. 
"  You  can't  be  too  careful  with  that  throat." 

She  knelt  down  by  his  chair,  put  the  scarf  over 
his  head,  brought  it  down  past  his  cheeks,  tied  it 
loosely  under  his  chin,  and  threw  the  ends  back 
over  his  shoulders. 

"  Now,  lean  back.  Isn't  that  better?  Mr.  Nor- 
man has  a  severe  cold,"  she  said  in  the  general 
direction  of  Thompson.  "  The  doctor  is  afraid  of 
bronchitis,"  she  added,  as  she  rose  and  drew  the 
shades.  "  That  light  is  getting  too  bright  for  your 
eyes." 

She  flashed  a  glance  at  Aunt  Mary  and  returned 
to  the  bedroom. 

Merriam  had  been  feeling  that  it  was  only  a 
matter  of  minutes  before  Thompson — whoever 
Thompson  might  be — would  somehow  force  his  way 
to  his  side  and  look  down  into  his  face  and,  prob- 
ably, perceive  the  imposture  as  Mayor  Black  had 
done.  But  now,  with  the  welcome  aid  of  the  scarf, 
he  had  the  bravado  to  turn  partly  in  his  chair  and 
say  throatily: 

"  What  do  you  want?  " 

Thompson  had  remained  a  gaping  spectator  of 
the  tying  up  of  Merriam's  head,  but  this  question 
enabled  him  to  recover  his  natural  aggressiveness. 
With  one  defiant  glance  at  Aunt  Mary,  he  started 
forward  and  pushed  his  way  past  Simpson,  who 


A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT         133 

could  have  stopped  him  only  by  an  actual  physical 
offensive. 

"What  do  I  want?"  he  repeated  sarcastically, 
as  he  stood  looking  down  on  the  senatorial  head 
bundled  in  the  scarf.  "  I  want  to  know  what  the 
hell  you've  gone  and  done — you  and  Black — with- 
out letting  anybody  know  you  were  going  to! 
What  about  Crockett?  Didn't  you  promise  him  at 
eight  o'clock  last  night  that  you  would  tell  Black 
to  veto?  And  then  this!  " 

Thompson  had  drawn  a  folded  newspaper  from 
his  coat  pocket.  He  struck  it  with  his  other  hand. 

"  Is  that  the  way  to  treat  your  friends  who've 
stuck  by  you?  What  about  the  election  next  week? 
What  about  the  state  machine?  What  about  your 
campaign  fund?  Have  you  gone  nutty?  Did  you 
really  do  it,  or  is  the  Mayor  lying?  That's  what  I 
want  to  know !  " 

"  What  business  is  it  of  yours?  "  asked  the  victim 
of  this  torrent  of  questions  as  he  stared  from  be- 
tween the  folds  of  his  woolen  scarf  at  the  unlighted 
gas  log. 

Merriam  really  was  asking  for  information,  but 
the  politician  could  not  know  this.  It  seemed  to 
him  the  last  insult — and  repudiation.  He  fell  back 
a  step  dramatically. 

"  So  that's  it!  "  he  cried.  "After  IVe  managed 
two  campaigns  for  you !  IVe  done  your  dirty  work 
for  ten  years !  And  now,  over  night,  what  business 
is  it  of  mine?  You  throw  me  over !  And  all  your 
friends.  The  men  who  sent  you  to  the  Senate  of 


134      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT) 

the  United  States  and  kept  you  there.  And  what 
for?  To  join  that  fool  Black!  And  the  Eeform 
League,  I  suppose.  Philip  Rockwell  and  his  gang 
of  preachers  and  short-haired  women  and  long- 
haired mollycoddles!  You'll  appeal  to  the  dear 
People!  Bah!" 

Thompson  had  by  this  time  apparently  forgotten 
entirely  the  presence  of  Aunt  Mary  and  Simpson. 
He  snatched  a  cigar  from  his  waistcoat  pocket  and 
bit  the  end  off  it,  produced  a  match  from  some- 
where, and  lighted  it,  emitting  volumes  of  smoke. 
He  thumped  with  his  newspaper  on  the  arm  of  Mer- 
riam's  chair  and  in  an  impressively  lowered  tone 
continued : 

"  Listen  to  me.  It  won't  do,  Senator.  You  can't 
get  away  with  it.  Not  you.  Eeform  and  the  people 
and  pure  politics  and  all  that.  If  you'd  started  in 
on  that  line  twenty  years  ago, — may  be!  I  don't 
say  it  couldn't  be  made  to  pay.  But  not  by  you,  at 
this  time  of  day.  It's  too  late.  You've  tied  up 
with  the  other  gang.  They  know  you.  They  know 
too  much  about  you.  They  won't  let  you  dp  it. 
It's  no  use  trying.  Of  course,  if  you're  tired  of  your 
job — if  you're  hankering  to  quit — if  you  want  to  go 
down  in  a  grand  smash, — all  right!  But  if  you 
want  to  stay  in  the  United  States  Senate,  there's 
just  one  way  you  can  do  it,  and  that's  to  play  the 
old  game  in  the  old  way  with  the  old  crowd. 
Savez?  " 

All  this  was  a  trifle  hard  on  young  Merriam. 
Thompson  had  told  who  he  was,  so  that  the  boy 


A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT         135 

realised  the  critical  character  of  the  interview. 
But  there  was  so  much  else  he  needed  to  know. 
How  had  the  real  Norman  been  in  the  habit  of 
treating  this  man?  How  would  he  probably  have 
acted  in  such  a  situation  as  they  were  pretending? 
The  only  thing  he  could  do  was  to  say  as  little  as 
possible.  Now  that  it  was  necessary  to  make  some 
response,  what  he  said  was : 

"  We'll  see  about  that." 

Thompson  was  rather  encouraged  than  otherwise 
by  this  remark.  He  had  not,  of  course,  expected 
any  immediate  acquiescence. 

"  You'll  see  all  right  if  you  keep  on,"  he  retorted 
with  elephantine  irony.  "  But  for  God's  sake,  Sen- 
ator, try  to  see  things  in  time.  It's  not  too  late 
yet.  Turn  the  Mayor  down.  You  aren't  com- 
mitted openly.  He  is,  but  you  aren't.  Let  him  go 
smash  alone.  He  was  always  a  fool!  You  can 
swear  to  Crockett  that  you  told  Black  to  veto.  It 
don't  matter  whether  he  believes  you  or  not.  He'll 
take  you  back.  This  Ordinance  business  don't 
matter.  They'll  fix  that  some  way.  There  are 
bigger  things  than  that  coming,  and  they  know 
how  useful  you  can  be.  You  can't  keep  on  with  this 
other." 

"  Can't  I?  "  asked  Merriam,  not  unskillfully  fish- 
ing for  further  revelations. 

"  Listen  to  me,  Senator.  Didn't  you  accept  fifty 
thousand  dollars  of  common  stock  in  the  United 
Traction  Companies?  Are  you  going  to  give  that 
back?  Will  Crockett  let  you  give  it  back?  Not  he.! 


136      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Have  you  forgotten  how  we  cornered  the  vote  in 
Kankakee  County  'when  you  ran  six  years  ago? 
Crockett  knows  about  that.  The  whole  crowd  know 
it.  And  what  about  that  nice  little  honorarium, 
you  received  for  your  vote  in  the  Senate  on  the  last 
amendment  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act?  If 
you've  forgotten  it,  the  men  who  put  it  up  haven't ! 
Do  you  think  they'll  let  you  go  off  like  this?  As 
long  as  you  play  the  game  and  keep  your  good  looks 
and  can  make  your  popular  speeches  they'll  keep 
you  in  the  Senate,  and  the  good  things  will  come 
your  way.  They'll  get  you  a  Cabinet  job  if  you 
want  it.  Just  say  the  word.  But  if  you  throw 
them  over,  they'll  turn  on  you.  These  little  things 
I've  been  reminding  you  of  will  leak  out.  Man 
alive,  you're  liable  to  end  in  the  pen ! " 

"Perhaps,"  said  Merriam,  "but  I  shouldn't  go 
alone.  A  man  named  Thompson  would  go  with 
me,  eh?  And  maybe  even  Mr.  Crockett.  And 
others  I  might  name."  (Merriam  wished  he  could 
name  them.) 

"  That  for  your  threats ! "  he  finished  grandly 
and  snapped  his  fingers,  thanking  heaven  for  the 
role  of  villain  he  had  enacted  in  a  certain  college 
melodrama,  in  connection  with  which  he  had,  by 
diligent  practice,  acquired  the  not  common  art  of 
snapping  one's  fingers  effectively. 

Thompson,  who  had  unwontedly  removed  his 
cigar  from  his  mouth  at  Merriam's  speech,  now 
backed  away  from  the  huddled  figure. 

"  You  think  you'd  do  that ! "  he  said,  in  a  voice  in 


A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT        137 

which  cynical  scorn  contended  with  something  a 
little  like  fright. 

"  Not  unless  I  am  forced  to,"  said  Merriam. 
"  But  I  have  chosen  a  new  course,  and  I  mean  to 
follow  it." 

But  Thompson,  standing  solidly  in  the  spot  to 
which  he  had  retreated,  as  if  he  had  "  dug  in  "  there, 
restored  his  cigar  to  the  accustomed  corner  of  his 
face  and  narrowed  his  little  eyes  till  they  were 
hideously  smaller  than  usual. 

"  It's  unfortunate,  Senator,"  he  said,  with  a  kind 
of  exaggerated  suavity,  "  that  this  reform  in  your 
public  morals  last  night  was  not  accompanied  by  a 
corresponding  change  in  your  private  morals." 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Merriam  quickly, 
and  his  voice  faltered  ever  so  little,  a  fact  which 
the  other  did  not  miss. 

"  Oh,  you  were  known,  you  know,  at  Keiberg's 
Place.  You  told  everybody  who  you  were,  I  under- 
stand. You  must  have  been  pretty  gay.  Celebrat- 
ing your  new  virtue,  I  suppose!  But  handing 
fifty-dollar  bills  to  dance-hall  girls  isn't  quite  the 
line  for  a  Reform  League  hero,  Senator !  And  we 
know  where  you  went  afterwards.  She's  a  pretty 
little  thing,  but  she's  not  in  the  Reform  League  pic- 
ture! Suppose  we  say  nothing  about  the  United 
Traction  stock  or  the  Kankakee  County  vote  or  the 
Interstate  Commerce  business  or  any  other  little  in- 
cidents of  the  past  like  that,  but  just  start  with  this 
little  affair  of  last  night.  How  will  that  mix  with 
pure  politics,  Senator?  " 


138      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

It  was  Thompson's  turn  to  enjoy  himself.  He 
could  not  refrain  from  following  up  this  new  vein. 

"  Your  old  friends  are  liberal-minded,  Senator. 
But  your  new  friends,  the  great  American  people, 
are  a  little  inclined  to  be  narrow  in  matters  of 
private  morality." 

Thompson's  follow-up  attack  was  a  mistake.  It 
gave  Merriam  time  to  think  and  decide  upon  his 
course. 

"  I  was  not  at  Keiberg's  last  night,"  he  said, 
recovering  his  loftiness  and  adding  coldness 
thereto.  "  Nor  anywhere  else.  I  spent  the  night 
in  this  hotel." 

Thompson  stared.  For  a  moment  it  almost 
seemed  that  his  jaw  would  fall  and  his  precious 
cigar  drop  out.  But  he  recovered  himself  with  a 
sneer. 

"  You  did,  did  you?  In  the  company  of  your 
wife,  I  suppose !  And  that  thing  about  your  head 
is  really  to  keep  you  from  catching  cold  and  not  to 
keep  your  head  from  splitting  open  with  the  head- 
ache? You're  pretty  fresh  this  morning,  consider- 
ing. I  hand  it  to  you  there.  But " — his  rising 
anger  got  the  better  of  his  unnatural  affectation  of 
suavity,  which  he  had  maintained  up  to  the  limit  of 
his  endurance — "  but  that  lie  won't  go !  You  don't 
know  what  you  did  last  night.  You  were  stewed 
right.  You  told  every  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry,  and 
Mary  and  Jane  at  the  dance  hall  that  you  were 
Senator  Norman.  You  fool !  " 

"After  that,"  said  Merriam,  playing  his  part 


A  CHANGE  OF  MANAGEMENT         139 

regally,  or,  let  us  say,  senatorially,  "  I  can  only 
suggest  to  you  that  behind  you  is  a  door  which  I 
wish  you  would  make  use  of  as  soon  as  possible." 

Thompson  seemed  decidedly  nonplused  at  this. 
The  real  Norman  had  always  been  amenable  to 
threats  and  on  the  whole  patient  under  abuse. 

"  Do  you  mean,"  he  burst  out,  "  that  I'm  not  to 
be  your  manager?  You  turn  me  down  cold?  " 

At  this  juncture  there  came  a  quick,  light  knock 
at  the  door  to  which  Merriam  had  just  referred  so 
grandly. 

Simpson  looked  quickly  at  Aunt  Mary  and  then 
at  Merriam. 

"  Let  me  know  who  it  is,"  said  the  latter,  realis- 
ing that  he  must  seem  to  be  in  command. 

When  Simpson  opened  the  door  it  was  Kockwell 
who  pushed  past  him.  He  stopped  short  before 
Thompson  (with  his  cigar)  in  hostile  confronta- 
tion. 

Cautiously  Merriam  peered  around  the  off  side 
of  his  high  backed  chair. 

"  Mr.  Thompson,"  he  said,  "  you  know  Mr.  Rock- 
well, I  believe.  My  new  manager !  " 

For  a  moment  Thompson  stood.  Once  his  mouth 
opened,  almost  certainly  to  frame  an  oath.  It  is 
strange  evidence  of  the  survival  of  chivalry  in 
American  life  that  Aunt  Mary's  presence  re- 
strained that  outburst.  Instead,  we  must  suppose, 
he  took  the  stub  of  his  cigar  from  his  mouth  and 
dashed  it  on  the  carpet. 

"  I'm  through !  "  he  said.     Then  to  Merriam : 


140      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I'll  use  your  door  all  right — for  the  last  time — till 
you  send  for  me !  " 

He  caught  up  his  hat  and  walked  past  Rockwell, 
within  an  inch  of  brushing  against  him  but  not 
looking  at  him. 

At  the  door  he  turned. 

"  You've  read  your  morning  papers,  I  suppose ! 
Have  you  read  Tidbits  f  Take  a  look  at  it !  " 

The  door  slammed  behind  him. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 

HOLDING  THE  FORT 

reverberation   of   Thompson's   slamming 
J.    still  echoed  in  the  room  when  the  bedroom 
door  opened  and  Alicia  sailed  in,  followed  more 
demurely  by  Mollie  June. 

"  Good  morning,  Philip,"  said  Alicia  to  her 
fiance". 

Then  she  turned  to  Merriam. 

"  Oh,  you  did  splendidly !  "  she  cried. 

"  Did  I?  "  said  Merriam,  awkwardly  trying  to  get 
the  woolen  scarf  off  his  head. 

"Indeed  you  did.  We  listened  to  every  word. 
I  through  the  keyhole.  And  Mollie  June  lay  down 
on  the  floor  and  listened  under  the  door.  It  was 
mean  of  me  to  take  the  keyhole,  but  I'm  too  old  and 
fat  for  the  other  position." 

Possibly  Mollie  June's  recent  prostration  ac- 
counted for  the  color  in  her  cheeks. 

"Help  him  off  with  that  thing,  dear,"  Alicia 
added,  and  herself  advanced  to  Rockwell  and  took 
his  hands,  offering  to  be  kissed — an  offer  of  which 
Rockwell  took  advantage  with  some  fervour. 

"Yes,  I'll  help  you,"  said  Mollie  June,  moving 
somewhat  timidly  in  Merriam's  direction. 

He  met  her  more  than  half  way. 
141 


142      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Please,"  lie  said.  "  I'm  all  bound  round  with 
a  woolen  string." 

Mollie  June  drew  the  ends  of  the  scarf  down  off 
his  shoulders  and  untied  the  loose  knot  under  his 
chin. 

"  There ! "  she  said,  looking  up  at  him. 

Merriam  snatched  the  thing  off  his  head,  ruffling 
his  hair. 

"Thank  you!" 

Rockwell's  voice  reached  them  across  the  room. 
Aunt  Mary  had  been  hurriedly  narrating  the  hap- 
penings with  Thompson.  He  now  looked  approv- 
ingly at  Merriam. 

"  That's  all  right,"  he  said,  reflectively.  "  Very 
good.  Yes.  Just  as  well  to  defy  him  at  once. 
Could  hardly  have  been  better.  Ah,  there's  Hobart 
now,  I  suppose,"  for  a  discreet  knock  had  sounded 
at  the  hall  door. 

Rockwell  himself  admitted  the  house  physician, 
a  bald,  youngish  man,  with  nose  glasses  over 
slightly  shifty  eyes  and  a  quite  unprofessional  man- 
ner— the  manner  of  a  "smart"  young  business 
man. 

Merriam  and  Mollie  June  joined  the  others  for 
the  introductions.  These  formalities  over,  Dr. 
Hobart  confirmed  the  report  of  Norman's  condition 
which  Rockwell  had  given  them  over  the  telephone. 
He  "  was  getting  along  all  right " — with  a  sidelong 
glance  at  Mollie  June — "except  for  a  touch  of 
bronchitis." 

Mollie  June  betrayed  an  embarrassed  uneasiness. 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  143 

Merriam  wondered  just  how  much,  she  knew  of  her 
husband's  whereabouts — of  his  escapades  in  gen- 
eral. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Aunt  Mary  briskly,  "  you  must 
go  right  to  bed,  Mr.  Merriam,  before  some  one  else 
comes.  You're  ill  with  bronchitis,  of  course.  That 
scarf  was  a  splendid  idea,  Alicia,  but  it  was  a  close 
shave.  We  mustn't  run  any  more  risks.  You  will 
attend  him,  Dr.  Hobart?  " 

"  Of  course,"  said  the  young  physician,  evidently 
much  amused.  "Mr.  Rockwell  has  told  me  the 
story.  It's  as  good  as  a  play.  Mr.  Merriam — I 
mean,  Senator, — I  order  you  to  bed  at  once." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Merriam  and  turned  towards 
Senator  Norman's  bedroom. 

"  I'll  show  you  where  things  are,"  said  Rockwell, 
accompanying  him.  "  I  explored  a  bit  last  night." 

In  the  bedroom  with  the  door  closed  behind  them, 
Merriam  hesitated. 

"  Better  get  your  things  off  at  once,"  said  Rock- 
well, going  to  the  bureau  and  stooping  to  open  the 
bottom  drawer.  "  It's  nearly  ten  o'clock,"  he  con- 
tinued, rummaging.  "  The  reporters  will  be  here 
any  minute.  I'm  surprised  some  enterprising  chap 
hasn't  arrived  already.  We'll  try  to  keep  them  off, 
of  course.  But  some  of  those  fellows  are  mighty 
clever.  Here  we  are — pajamas,"  he  added,  pulling 
out  the  garments  for  which  he  had  been  searching. 

Then  he  crossed  to  a  closet,  from  which  in  a 
moment  he  emerged  with  a  bath  robe  and  a  pair  of 
bedroom  slippers. 


144      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I'll  put  these  by  the  bed  so  that  if  there's  any 
reason  for  you  to  get  up  you  can  do  so  easily.  But 
unless  something  happens  to  change  our  plans, 
you're  much  too  sick  to  get  up  to-day." 

A  knock  sounded  at  the  door  into  the  sitting 
room.  Rockwell  answered  it  and  returned  grin- 
ning. 

"Aunt  Mary  says  that  Simpson  shall  bring  you 
some  ham  and  a  cup  of  coffee  as  soon  as  you're  in 
bed.  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  you  have  had  nothing 
to  eat  but  grapefruit?  " 

"  I  had  forgotten,"  said  Merriam,  realising  never- 
theless that  he  was  very  hungry. 

Rockwell  dropped  into  a  comfortable  chair.  "It's 
rather  good  fun,"  he  said.  "  This  conspiracy  busi- 
ness. I  do  hope  we  can  pull  it  through." 

By  this  time  Merriam  was  inside  the  senatorial 
pajamas.  He  approached  the  bed,  turned  down 
the  covers,  and  awkwardly  climbed  in,  feeling  for 
all  the  world  like  a  little  boy  who  has  been  sent  to 
bed  in  the  daytime  for  being  naughty. 

"  Now  about  lights,"  said  Rockwell  rising.  The 
window  shades  had  not  been  raised ;  they  were  using 
the  chandelier.  "  Not  these  center  lights,  nor  the 
night  lamp.  Both  are  too  bright  on  your  face  in 
case Let's  try  this  side  light." 

He  turned  on  a  light  on  the  wall  on  the  other 
side  of  Merriam's  bed,  switched  off  the  ceiling 
lights,  and  surveyed  the  effect. 

"  That's  good,"  he  said.  "  If  we  have  to  bring 
any  one  in,  you  can  lie  looking  this  way  and  still 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  145 

your  face  will  be  in  shadow.  Lie  well  down  in  with 
the  covers  up  to  your  chin.  Now  I'll  bring  you 
some  breakfast." 

Merriam,  left  alone  for  a  minute,  wished  he  had 
been  permitted  to  finish  his  breakfast  in  the  sitting 
room  before  being  sent  to  bed.  He  had  counted  on 
that  breakfast,  and  the  first  course  had  been  fully 
as  delightful  as  he  had  pictured  it. 

Rockwell  soon  returned,  carrying  a  tray  on  which 
was  a  plate  of  really  fine  ham,  with  rolls  and  butter 
and  a  cup  of  coffee. 

"  I  guess  I'm  not  too  sick  to  sit  up  to  eat,  so  long 
as  only  you're  here,"  said  Merriam,  suiting  his 
posture  to  the  word  and  falling  to  with  appe- 
tite. 

Rockwell  drew  up  a  chair  and  for  several  minutes 
sat  smoking  in  silence.  Then  he  said : 

"  Did  you  catch  Thompson's  parting  shot  about 
Tidbits?  " 

"Yes,"  Merriam  replied,  without  interrupting 
operations.  "  What  did  he  mean?  " 

Rockwell  drew  a  clipping  from  his  pocket. 
"  Listen,"  he  said,  and  read  the  following : 

The  Senator's  Night  Off 

There  was  a  dance  last  night  at  Reiberg's 
Place  on  the  West  Side.  Most  of  our  readers 
do  not  know  Reiberg's.  It  comprises  a  danc- 
ing floor  over  a  saloon,  with  a  bar  attached  for 
the  convenience  of  patrons  who  may  not  be 
willing — or,  as  the  evening  advances,  able — to 
go  downstairs  to  the  saloon ;  also  certain  small 


146      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

rooms  where  one  may  drink  or  otherwise  enjoy 
oneself  quite  privately.  Its  patrons,  male  and 
female,  are  chiefly  employees  in  the  neighbour- 
ing factories. 

But  last  night  Reiberg's  was  honoured,  we 
are  credibly  informed,  by  a  guest  from  quite  a 
different  sphere — no  less  than  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States.  We  are  not  able  at  present  to 
give  his  name  with  certainty,  and  of  course  we 
are  not  willing  to  give  names  in  such  a  case 
until  we  have  verified  our  information  with 
scrupulous  care.  But  he  certainly  announced 

himself  as  Senator ,  and  he  looked  the 

part,  and  distributed  money,  presumably  from 
the  salary  paid  to  him  out  of  public  funds, 
with  lavish  abandon. 

Having  tried  to  kiss  one  of  the  prettier  girls 
and  been  knocked  down  by  her  escort — who 
evidently  knew  naught  of  "  senatorial  cour- 
tesies,"— he  emphasised  the  sincerity  of  his 
tipsy  apologies  by  handing  the  lucky  insulted 
one  a  fifty-dollar  bill. 

Later,  it  is  said,  he  attached  himself  to  an- 
other young  woman,  unaccompanied,  it  would 
seem,  by  any  pugnacious  swain,  with  whom  he 
spent  several  hours,  partly  on  the  dancing  floor 
and  partly  elsewhere. 

Finally,  with  we  fear  little  of  his  money  left 
about  him,  he  was  charitably  carried  off  by  the 
chauffeur  of  his  waiting  taxi. 

Well,  well,  after  the  arduous  strain  of  leg- 
islative labours,  one  doubtless  feels  the  need  of 
a  little  relaxation.  We  hope  the  Senator  en- 
joyed himself. 

Rockwell  folded  up  his  clipping.     "A  tolerably 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  147 

close  paraphrase  of  Simpson's  story,"  lie  remarked. 
"  They  have  the  facts  pretty  straight." 

"What  is  this  Tidbits?"  asked  Merriam,  sitting 
on  his  pillow  with  the  tray  in  his  lap.  He  had 
stopped  eating. 

"  Oh,  a  dirty  little  sheet  of  scandal.  Twice  a 
week.  But  it's  pretty  widely  read.  And  they 
know  his  name,  of  course.  In  fact  any  one  can 
guess  it,  because  Senator  Norman  is  known  to  be 
in  the  city,  and  there  is  no  other  United  States 
Senator  stopping  here  now,  so  far  as  any  one 
knows.  It  will  be  a  bit  nasty  if  they  push  this  sort 
of  thing.  They'll  put  it  in  the  regular  newspapers 
next — a  straight  news  item  with  his  name  in 
it." 

"  That  article  doesn't  say  where  he  went  after- 
wards," said  Merriam.  "  But  Thompson  knew." 

"  They're  keeping  that  in  reserve.    Listen !  " 

Male  voices  were  audible  from  the  sitting 
room. 

"The  reporters!"  exclaimed  Rockwell.  "I'll 
take  that  tray.  Lie  down  and  cover  up.  I  must 
go  and  help  Aunt  Mary  hold  the  fort !  " 

Merriam  finished  his  coffee  in  a  gulp,  and  Rock- 
well set  the  tray  on  the  seat  of  a  chair  and  hastily 
entered  the  sitting  room. 

There  followed  a  long  period — more  than  an 
hour,  in  fact — during  which  Merriam  lay  in  bed 
and  listened  to  varied  voices  from  the  other  room, 
and  speculated  as  to  what  was  going  on,  and  won- 
dered what  he  should  do  if  the  door  should  open 


148      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

and  some  irresistibly  aggressive  reporter  or  irre- 
sistibly important  political  friend  of  Norman's  be 
ushered  in. 

But  Rockwell  and  Aunt  Mary,  with  the  occa- 
sional support  of  Dr.  Hobart,  successfully  with- 
stood the  army  of  reporters  and  a  few  minor  poli- 
ticians who  called,  and  at  length  the  loud  masculine 
voices  from  the  other  room  ceased,  and  Merriam 
lay  still,  somewhat  fatigued  by  his  prolonged  strain 
of  apprehension,  and  waited. 

Presently  the  door  opened,  and  Aunt  Mary  and 
Kockwell  entered.  Merriam  had  closed  his  eyes, 
but  Rockwell  speedily  opened  them. 

"  Oh,  you  can  wake  up,"  he  said.  "  It's  all  right. 
The  coast  is  clear." 

Merriam  rolled  over  so  as  to  lie  on  his  back. 
"  Well,  what  next?  "  he  said. 

Aunt  Mary  and  Rockwell  looked  at  each  other. 
Rockwell  spoke: 

"  Miss  Norman  and  I  are  going  out.  We  shall 
drop  in  at  the  Mayor's  for  a  few  minutes  and  then 
go  on  to  a  Reform  League  luncheon  at  the  Urban 
Club.  I  am  due  to  act  as  toastmaster  or  chairman 
for  the  speeches  afterwards,  and  it  will  be  just  as 
well  to  have  Miss  Norman  present.  She  will  sym- 
bolise the  prospective  new  alliance.  We  are  going 
to  leave  you  under  the  care  of  Alicia  and  Mrs.  Nor- 
man. No  one  else  is  likely  to  come  for  several 
hours  now.  We  shall  be  back  at  about  half  past 
two  or  three.  Meanwhile  luncheon.  You  didn't 
get  a  very  big  breakfast  after  all.  Simpson  shall 


HOLDING  THE  PORT  149 

serve  it  here  by  your  bed,  and  Alicia  and  Mollie 
June  can  eat  with,  you." 

This  disposition  suited  Merriam  excellently  well, 
but  he  made  no  comment.  He  tried  to  decide 
whether  Aunt  Mary  was  really  eyeing  him  sharply 
or  whether  he  only  imagined  it. 

In  any  case  she  almost  immediately  added  a 
rather  formal  "  Good  morning,"  and  returned  to 
the  sitting  room. 

Rockwell  lingered  a  moment. 

"  We're  going  to  try  to  bring  Norman  back  here 
this  evening,  you  know.  If  it's  at  all  possible.  If 
it  shouldn't  be — if  he's  too  sick  or  something,  I  sup- 
pose you  could  stay  over  another  day  still?  " 

Merriam  thought  with  a  panic  of  his  school. 

"  Not  unless  it's  absolutely  necessary,"  he  replied 
with  a  good  deal  of  emphasis. 

"  It  probably  won't  be,"  said  Rockwell  reassur- 
ingly. "  We're  quite  as  anxious  to  get  rid  of  you, 
you  know,"  he  added  smiling,  "  as  you  can  be  to  get 
away  from  us.  A  double's  a  horribly  dangerous 
thing  to  have  around.  Well,  so  long." 

In  less  than  five  minutes  after  Rockwell's  de- 
parture there  came  a  knock  at  that  door  upon 
which  Merriam's  attention  was  concentrated — a 
distinctly  feminine  knock. 

Merriam  disposed  himself  as  discreetly  as  pos- 
sible under  the  bedclothes  and  answered  it. 

Alicia  opened  the  door  and  peeped.  "  May  I 
come  in?  "  She  opened  it  wider  and  came  through. 
"  I'm  the  chaperon,  you  know." 


"Are  you? "  asked  Merriam  smiling. 

Alicia  was  pleased  by  his  smile  and  said  so. 

"  I  always  like  it  when  people  laugh  at  the  idea 
of  my  being  a  chaperon." 

"  Why?  "  said  Merriam. 

"  Oh,  so  long  as  it  seems  funny  for  a  woman  to  be 
a  chaperon  she's  young." 

"  It  seems  funny  for  you,"  said  Merriam. 

"That's  very  nicely  said,"  returned  Alicia. 
"  Come  in,  Mollie  June." 

As  Mollie  June  did  not  appear,  Alicia  looked 
into  the  sitting  room. 

"  Why,"  she  said,  "  she  must  have  gone  into  her 
bedroom.  I  do  believe  she's  doing  her  hair  over." 
And  Alicia  raised  her  eyebrows. 

In  spite  of  hope  deferred  Merriam  was  made 
happy.  He  recalled  the  supreme  necessity  of  shav- 
ing earlier  that  morning. 

Alicia  dropped  into  the  chair  by  the  bed  in  which 
Eockwell  had  sat  and  pretended  to  scan  the  inva- 
lid's face  solicitously. 

"  I  should  say,  Senator,"  she  remarked,  "  that 
you  do  not  look  like  a  very  sick  man.  Your  condi- 
tion must  be  improving.  We  can  hope  you  will  be 
able  to  take  a  little  nourishment." 

"  You  can  hope  that  all  right,"  grinned  the  in- 
valid. 

"  I've  ordered "  Alicia,  making  talk, 

plunged  into  the  details  of  a  quite  elaborate  refec- 
tion. 

By  the  time  she  had  finished  and  had  replied  to 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  151 

one  or  two  humorous  comments  from  Merriam, 
whose  spirits  were  certainly  rising,  Simpson  pre- 
sented himself  with  the  substantial  fulfillment  of 
her  prospectus.  And  not  until  then  did  Mollie 
June  join  them.  Her  coiffure,  though  simple,  was 
certainly  faultless  and  so  far  as  a  masculine  eye 
could  judge  newly  arranged. 

Alicia  caught  Merriam's  glance  and  read  his 
thoughts  and  smiled. 

"  What  is  it?  "  asked  Mollie  June  suspiciously. 

"  What  is  what?  "  said  Merriam,  lamely. 

"  The  Senator  has  been  very  humorous  over  the 
meal  I  have  ordered,"  explained  Alicia  more 
deftly. 

"  Don't  call  him  the  Senator ! "  cried  Mollie  June. 
"  His  name  is  " — her  eyes  met  Merriam's  for  an 
instant — "  Mr.  John." 

"  I  see,"  said  Alicia.  In  the  dim  light  Merriam 
was  not  sure  whether  she  raised  her  eyebrows  again 
or  not,  but  he  was  afraid  she  did. 

Simpson,  intent  only  on  the  proper  illumination 
of  his  carefully  laid  cloth,  but  unwittingly  conspir- 
ing with  the  elder  gods  (Fate  and  Destiny  and  the 
like),  had  turned  on  the  night  lamp  and  set  it  on 
the  corner  of  the  table  next  to  Mollie  June,  and  its 
radiance  fell  full  on  her  slender,  erect  figure,  now 
arrayed  in — Merriam  had  not  the  slightest  idea 
what  kind  of  fabric  it  was,  but  it  was  creamy  white, 
and  at  her  waist  was  one  of  the  red  roses  he  had 
helped  to  freshen.  The  circle  of  bright  light  ex- 
tended up  to  her  white  throat.  Occasionally  when 


152      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

she  leaned  forward  her  face  dipped  into  it,  but  for 
the  most  part  showed  only  dimly  in  the  fainter 
glow  that  came  through  the  shade  of  the  lamp.  He 
could  see  her  eyes,  however,  and  not  infrequently 
they  rested  on  him.  His,  it  is  to  be  feared,  were 
on  her  most  of  the  time. 

When  at  length  the  luncheon  was  finished  and 
Merriam  had  expressed  himself  as  disinclined  for 
cigarettes  and  Simpson  had  removed  his  dishes  and 
his  table  and  finally  himself,  Alicia,  who  was  really 
a  most  good-natured  person — a  pearl  among  chap- 
erons,— yawned  and  announced  that  she  had  a 
novel  which  she  desired  to  finish,  and  that,  if  they 
didn't  mind,  she  proposed  to  retire  to  the  sitting 
room  to  prosecute  that  literary  occupation. 

"  You  can  amuse  him  for  a  while,  Mrs.  Norman," 
she  said,  with  a  humorous  smile ;  Merriam  did  not 
venture  to  question  what  more  subtle  thoughts  that 
smile  might  veil.  "He's  your  guest  more  than 
mine,  seeing  it's  your  husband  he's  impersonating. 
If  he  gets  too  boring,  you  can  come  for  me  and  I'll 
spell  you." 

Neither  Mollie  June  nor  Merriam  replied,  but 
Alicia,  still  with  that  amused  smile,  rose  and  calmly 
departed.  She  left  the  door  open,  of  course,  be- 
tween the  two  rooms. 

Upon  the  two  young  people,  thus  abruptly  left 
alone  together,  there  descended  an  embarrassed 
silence.  For  a  minute  or  so  they  heard  Alicia 
moving  about  in  the  sitting  room  and  then  the 
small  sounds  which  one  makes  in  adjusting  one's 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  153 

self  comfortably  in  an  armchair  with,  a  footstool 
and  a  book,  ending  in  a  pleasurable  sigh. 

Merriam  was  overwhelmed  by  the  necessity  of 
finding  talk.  He  could  not  lie  there  in  bed  and 
stare  at  Mollie  June,  however  beatitudinous  it 
might  have  been  to  do  so.  Several  seconds  of  pro- 
digious intellectual  labour  brought  forth  this  polite 
question : 

"  Do  you  hear  often  from  the  girls  in  Biceville?  " 

"  Not  very  often,"  said  Mollie  June. 

We  can  hardly  describe  this  reply  as  helpful. 

Again  he  struggled  mightily,  with  the  banal  kind 
of  result  that  usually  follows  such  paroxysms  of 
conversational  topic-hunting : 

"  You  must  find  your  life  here  and  in  Washing- 
ton wonderful." 

"  It  seemed  so,  at  first,"  said  Mollie  June. 

"  But  it  didn't  last?  " 

Merriam  was  conscious  of  danger  on  this  tack, 
but  he  must  have  a  moment's  rest  before  he  could 
wrestle  with  the  void  again. 

"  No,"  said  Mollie  June. 

Merriam  waited,  not  shirking  his  responsibilities 
but  conscious  that  she  meant  to  continue.  She 
was  always  deliberate  of  speech — a  fact  which  gave 
a  piquant  significance  to  her  simplest  words. 

"  You  see,"  she  said,  "  I  didn't  really  care  very 
much  for  George.  I  thought  I  did  at  first,  but  I 
didn't.  Papa  really  made  me  marry  him.  And 
you  know  he  is  untrue  to  me." 

Merriam  could  have  gasped.    He  felt  himself 


154      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

falling  through  the  thin  ice  of  mere  "conversa- 
tion," on  which  he  had  tried  so  hard  to  skate,  into 
the  depths  of  real  talk.  But  it  was  good  to  be  in 
the  depths.  And  after  his  first  breathlessness  he 
was  filled  with  love  and  pity.  How  much  the  brief, 
girlish  sentences  portrayed  of  disillusionment  and 
tragedy ! 

"  You  know  about  that  then?  "  he  asked  gently. 
,  "  Of  course,"  said  Mollie  June,  almost  scornfully. 
"  Before  company  Aunt  Mary  and  Alicia  and  Mr. 
Kockwell  keep  up  the  pretence  that  I  can  know 
nothing  about  such  things.  I  keep  it  up  too !  But 
Aunt  Mary  knows  all  about  them.  George  never 
can  conceal  anything  from  her.  And  I  make  her 
tell  me  everything.  Everything !  " 

Merriam,  I  suspect,  hardly  sensed  the  amount  of 
intellect  and  character  which  Mollie  June's  last 
statement  betrayed — I  use  the  word  advisedly,  for, 
of  course,  intellect  and  character  detract  from  a 
young  girl's  charm,  and  if  she  desires  to  be  pretty 
and  alluring  she  should,  and  usually  does,  carefully 
conceal  whatever  of  such  attributes  she  may  be 
handicapped  with.  But  to  "  make "  Aunt  Mary 
disclose  things  she  wished  not  to  disclose  was  no 
small  achievement. 

"You  know  about  this  Jennie  Higgins?"  Mer- 
riam asked. 

"  Yes.     I've  seen  her  and  talked  with  her." 

"  How?  "  was  Merriam's  startled  question. 

"  She's  a  manicurist,  you  know.'  She's  employed 
at  "  Mollie  June  mentioned  a  well-known 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  155 

establishment  on  Michigan  Avenue,  the  name  of 
which  for  obvious  reasons  I  suppress.  "When  I 
found  that  out,  I  went  there  to  have  my  nails 
done.  I  just  asked  for — Madame  Couteau,  and 
waited  till  she  was  free.  She  didn't  know  me,  of 
course.  She's  pretty,"  said  Mollie  June,  with  judi- 
cial coldness. 

After  a  moment  she  added,  "And  sweet  and — 
warm." 

"But  how  any  man  can  leave  you "  cried 

Merriam,  treading  recklessly  on  several  kinds  of 
dynamite. 

"  You  haven't  seen  her,"  said  Mollie  June. 

Merriam  was  silenced.  It  was  true  he  had  not 
seen  her.  And  he  remembered  with  confusion  that 
he  had  talked  with  her  over  a  wire  and,  as  Rockwell 
put  it,  had  not  "  needed  much  prompting." 

He  stole  a  glance  at  Mollie  June.  The  purity  of 
her  white-clad  figure,  its  brave  erectness,  and  the 
impassive  sadness  so  out  of  place  on  her  young  face 
caught  at  his  heart. 

"  How  can  you  stand  it?  "  he  cried,  and  would 
have  put  out  his  hand  to  her  had  he  not  remem- 
bered that  he  was  in  bed  and  that  his  arm  was  clad 
only  in  the  sleeve  of  a  suit  of  pajamas. 

Mollie  June  looked  at  him. 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said.  "  What  else  can  I 
do?" 

Merriam  lay  still,  now  openly  staring  at  her.  Of 
all  intolerable  things  of  which  he  had  ever  heard  it 
seemed  to  him  the  worst  that  Mollie  June — "the 


156      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAKD 

prettiest  girl," — with  all  her  loveliness  and  sweet- 
ness and  courage  and  youthful  joy  in  life,  should 
be  so  slighted  and  wronged  and  saddened  and  de- 
graded. It  was  like  seeing  a  rose  trampled  under 
foot.  (Merriam's  mental  simile  was  not  very  orig- 
inal perhaps,  but  to  him  it  was  intensely  poignant. ) 

For  a  moment  she  met  his  gaze,  then  looked 
away.  In  the  subdued  light  Merriam  could  not  be 
sure,  but  he  thought  there  was  a  new  brightness  of 
tears  in  her  eyes,  released  perhaps  by  his  very  ap- 
parent though  inexpressive  sympathy. 

Presently  the  thought  which  had  inevitably  come 
to  him  forced  itself  almost  against  his  will  to  ex- 
pression : 

"  You  could  divorce  him." 

"  I've  thought  of  that."  ( Somehow  this  shocked 
Merriam. )  "  But  it  would  be  too  horrible.  Have 
you  read  the  divorce  trials  in  the  papers?  With  a 
Senator  they  would  make  the  most  of  it.  And 
Aunt  Mary  won't  let  me  do  that.  It  would  ruin 
him  politically,  she  says." 

"  Well,  what  if  it  did?    How  about  you?  " 

"  Oh,  she  loves  him,  you  know.  She  thinks  ke 
can  be  brought  to  change  his  ways.  She  believes 
in  him  still." 

"  Do  you?  " 

"No,"  said  Mollie  June,  with  the  clear-eyed, 
cruel  simplicity  of  youth. 

"He  may  die,"  was  the  thought  in  Merriam's 
mind,  but  this  could  not  be  said. 

Full  of  pity,  he  gazed  at  her  again,  and  some- 


HOLDING  THE  FORT  157 

thing  in  the  profile  of  her  averted  face  overcame 
him.  He  started  up  on  his  elbow — all  this  time  he 
had  lain  with  his  head  on  his  arm  on  the  pillow. 

"  Mollie  June !  "  he  cried,  his  voice  softly  raised. 

She  did  not  look  at  him. 

"  Dear  Mollie  June !  You  must  know  I  love  you. 
I  loved  you  three  years  ago  in  Riceville.  There's 
nothing  wrong  about  that.  When  you're  in  such 
trouble  I  must  tell  you.  It  can't  do  you  any  good. 
There's  nothing  we  can  do.  But — I  do  love  you !  " 

She  turned  her  eyes  upon  him. 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  that— in  Riceville?  " 

"Oh!  "he  cried. 

Mollie  June  rose  and  came  to  the  bedside. 

"  I  know,"  she  said  with  womanly  gentleness. 
"  You  couldn't,  of  course.  Because  you  were  so 
poor.  I  ought  to  have  waited — John !  " 

For  a  moment  her  hand  hovered  above  his  head 
as  if  she  would  have  stroked  his  ruffled  hair.  But 
it  descended  to  her  side  again. 

"  We  mustn't  talk  like  this.  I  must  go.  I'll  tell 
Alicia  we  are — bored ! " 

There  were  tears  not  only  in  her  eyes  but  on  her 
cheeks  now.  Undisguisedly  she  wiped  them  away 
and  carefully  dried  her  eyes  with  a  small  handker- 
chief. 

"  I  shall  see  you  at  dinner,"  she  said  with  a  brave 
smile,  and,  turning,  walked  quickly  out  of  the 
room. 


CHAPTER  XV 

COUNCIL  OF  WAR 

IT  was  some  time  before  Alicia,  with  something 
more,  if  possible,  than  her  usual  aplomb,  cover- 
ing, let  us  hope,  a  guilty  conscience,  entered  the 
bedroom,  presumably  to  "  spell "  Mollie  June  in 
amusing  the  supposed  invalid. 

Alicia  made  some  remark  which  hardly  pene- 
trated the  invalid's  consciousness,  but  scarcely  had 
she  sat  down  in  Mollie  June's  chair  before  a  quick 
knock  sounded  at  the  hall  door  of  the  sitting  room, 
almost  immediately  followed  by  the  sound  of  the 
opening  of  that  door,  and  Alicia  sprang  up  again 
and  hurried  away,  to  be  before  Mollie  June  in  re- 
ceiving the  newcomers.  It  began  to  irritate  Mer- 
riam  to  perceive  how  they  all  treated  her  as  a  little 
girl,  when  as  he  now  thrillingly  realised  she  was 
very  much  a  woman  in  spite  of  the  youthfulness  of 
her  face  and  figure. 

The  arrivals  in  the  other  room  proved  to  be  Rock- 
well and  Aunt  Mary  returned.  Recognising  their 
voices,  Merriam  glanced  at  his  watch  under  his  pil- 
low and  was  amazed  to  find  that  it  was  nearly  four 
o'clock. 

Rockwell  appeared  in  the  doorway. 
158 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR  159 

"Come  into  this  other  room,"  lie  said.  "We 
must  hold  a  council  of  war." 

"  Shall  I  dress?  "  asked  Merriam,  gladly  getting 
out  of  bed. 

"No,  no,"  said  Rockwell  impatiently.  "Just 
put  on  your  bath  robe  and  slippers." 

Having  followed  this  instruction,  Merriam 
stepped  to  the  glass  and  with  a  few  quick  strokes 
of  the  brush  smoothed  his  hair,  Rockwell  watching 
him  without  comment.  Then  they  went  into  the 
sitting  room. 

Merriam  blankly  perceived  that  the  sitting  room 
was  empty — of  Mollie  June. 

"  She  has  a  slight  headache,"  said  Alicia  kindly 
— suffering  still,  we  may  hope,  from  pangs  of  con- 
science. 

Aunt  Mary  was  sitting  in  the  senatorial  arm- 
chair, which  had  been  turned  about  to  face  the  rest 
of  the  room.  She  looked  long  and  hard  at  Merriam 
— an  intensification  of  that  close  scrutiny  with 
which,  it  seemed  to  him,  she  had  always  distin- 
guished him.  Merriam,  in  his  bath  robe,  sustained 
it  awkwardly  but  manfully.  Alicia  and  Rockwell 
were  standing.  The  silence  was  rather  portentous. 

"  Sit  down,  all  of  you,"  said  Aunt  Mary  suddenly. 

The  three  younger  persons  present — even  Rock- 
well seemed  youthful  beside  Aunt  Mary  in  her 
dominant  mood — rather  hurriedly  found  seats. 

"  Is  the  door  locked,  Philip?  " 

Rockwell  rose,  went  to  the  hall  door,  turned  the 
key,  and  returned  to  his  chair. 


160      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Tell  Mm,"  said  Aunt  Mary. 

Rockwell's  budget  of  news  was  certainly  consid- 
erable and  important. 

In  the  first  place,  George  Norman  was  "  better." 
Rockwell  and  Aunt  Mary  had  gone  to  see  him  at 
Jennie's  after  the  Reform  League  luncheon.  That 
was  why  they  were  so  late.  He  undoubtedly  had  a 
touch  of  bronchitis,  with  some  fever  and  a  cough, 
but  seemed  to  be  improving.  He  could  be  brought 
back  to  the  hotel  that  evening.  Aunt  Mary  had 
sat  down  by  his  bed  and  told  him  briefly  but  plainly 
of  the  happenings  at  the  hotel  the  previous  evening, 
and  had  extorted  a  feeble,  amazed  acquiescence  in 
the  astonishing  turn  which  had  been  given  to  his 
career — an  acquiescence  which  she  had  immedi- 
ately communicated  by  telephone  from  Jennie's  to 
Mayor  Black. 

In  the  second  place,  the  story  of  Norman's  even- 
ing at  Reiberg's  was  all  over  the  city — not  among 
the  populace,  of  course,  but  among  the  politicians 
and  business  men  and  clubmen — the  men  who 
know  things.  Not  only  the  story  in  Tidbits,  which 
everybody  seemed  to  have  read  and  to  have  as- 
signed unhesitatingly  to  Norman,  but  the  further 
fact  that  from  Reiberg's  he  had  gone  in  the  taxi  to 
"  a  certain  little  flat " — that  seemed  to  be  the  ap- 
proved phrase, — and  had  spent  the  night  there,  and 
was  still  there.  The  simple  truth,  in  short,  was 
known.  Rockwell  had  taken  his  cue  perforce  from 
Merriam's  impulsive  denial  to  Thompson  and  had 
flatly  contradicted  the  whole  story.  Senator  Nor- 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR  161 

man  had  spent  the  evening,  after  his  interviews 
with  Mr.  Crockett  and  with  Mayor  Black,  at  the 
hotel  with  his  wife,  and  was  there  now,  slightly  in- 
disposed with  a  severe  cold  which  had  threatened 
to  turn  into  bronchitis.  His  downright  assertions 
had,  Rockwell  believed,  shaken  the  confident  ru- 
mours and  would  probably  delay  any  further  pub- 
lication of  them  for  at  least  a  day.  But  it  was 
necessary  to  produce  evidence. 

"We  shall  have  to  use  you  again  to-night,"  he 
said  to  Merriam.  "  I  have  invited  the  Mayor  and 
Mr.  Wayward  to  dine  with  you  here  at  the  hotel — 
downstairs  in  the  Peacock  Cabaret." 

"  Shall  I  have  to  play  the  Senator  there? " 
gasped  Merriam — "  in  public !  " 

"  Semi-public,"  said  Rockwell.  "  I  have  reserved 
a  table  in  an  alcove.  We  shall  put  you  in  the  cor- 
ner. All  the  rest  of  us  will  be  between  you  and 
the  general  gaze.  Oh,  we  shall  get  away  with  it. 
It's  much  less  dangerous  than  trying  to  impose  at 
close  range  in  a  private  interview  on  some  one  who 
really  knows  the  Senator — as  you  did  on  Thompson 
this  morning." 

"  Does  Mr.  Wayward  know?  "  asked  Merriam. 

"Of  the  impersonation?  Not  yet.  But  Alicia 
shall  prepare  him  in  advance." 

Alicia  nodded.  "  That's  all  right,"  she  said. 
"Daddy  will  enjoy  it.  He'll  think  it's  a  huge 
joke." 

"Moreover,"  continued  Rockwell,  with  rather 
apprehensive  eyes  on  Merriam,  "  I  have  accepted  an 


162      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

invitation  for  Senator  Norman  to  speak  at  the  Ee- 
form  League  luncheon  to-morrow." 

"  Do  they  have  luncheons  and  speeches  every 
day? "  asked  Merriam,  sparring  for  time,  for  of 
course  he  saw  what  was  coming. 

"  Not  usually,  but  they've  been  having  a  series. 
To-morrow  is  the  last  one.  It's  the  perfect  opportu- 
nity for  Norman  to  come  out  openly  for  the  League. 
When  the  invitation  came,  I  simply  had  to  ac- 
cept it." 

"  But  if  George  Norman  isn't  able  to  speak?  " 
queried  Alicia,  fearlessly  coming  to  the  point. 

"  Then  you'll  have  to  make  the  speech ! "  said 
Rockwell  bluntly  to  Merriam. 

"  But  how  can  I?  " 

"  You  were  a  debater  in  college." 

"  Yes,  but  the  speech  itself " 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Mary  will  fix  you  up  with  a  speech." 

Merriam  turned  to  that  silent  mistress  of  the 
situation,  sitting  calmly  in  the  senatorial  arm- 
chair. 

"  George  is  so  very  busy  that  I  often  write  his 
speeches  for  him,"  she  said,  as  if  it  were  the  most 
natural  arrangement  in  the  world.  "  I  have  sev- 
eral sketched  out  now.  We  can  make  a  choice 
among  them.  I  will  write  it  out  in  full  and  you 
can  learn  it,  or  I  will  turn  over  the  outline  to  you 
and  you  can  work  it  up  in  your  own  words — if  you 
have  to  make  it." 

"  You  probably  won't,"  Eockwell  hastened  to 
say.  "  Norman  is  really  much  better.  After  a 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR  163 

comfortable  night  here  at  the  hotel  he  will  be  all 
right.  If  he's  a  little  hoarse,  we  can't  help  it.  But 
you  must  stay  over,  you  see,"  he  added  deter- 
minedly,— "to  make  sure.  That  speech  must  be 
made." 

"  But  my  school ! "  cried  Merriam. 

"You'll  have  to  send  another  telegram,"  said 
Aunt  Mary. 

"What's  a  day  or  two  of  school?"  asked  Bock- 
well  impatiently,  with  a  layman's  insensibility  to 
the  pedagogical  dogmas  of  absolute  regularity  and 
punctuality.  "Besides,  if  you  really  were  sick," 
he  added  more  tactfully,  "  they  would  have  to  get 
along  without  you,  wouldn't  they?  " 

"  So  much  is  at  stake,"  said  Aunt  Mary. 
"  George's  future,  and  all  that  that  may  mean  to 
the  State  and  Nation.  If  we  can  bring  him  to 
throw  the  weight  of  his  popularity  and  leadership 
on  the  right  side ! " 

"  You  can't  desert  us  now,  Mr.  Merriam,"  cried 
Alicia.  "  When  it  means  so  much  to  Aunt  Mary 
and  Philip  and  Mollie  June ! " 

Crafty  Alicia !  Her  guile  was,  of  course,  clearly 
apparent  to  Merriam.  But  it  is  perfectly  possible 
to  perceive  that  an  influence  is  being  deliberately 
brought  to  bear  on  one  without  being  able  to  resist 
that  influence. 

"  Very  well.    I'll  telegraph  again,"  he  said. 

"Better  do  it  now,"  said  Bockwell,  promptly 
clinching  this  decision.  He  rose,  went  to  the  writ- 
ing table,  got  out  a  telegraph  form,  and  sat  down. 


164      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"What  shall  I  write?" 

Merriam  collected  himself  as  best  he  could  Tinder 
Alicia's  admiring,  expectant  eyes  and  Aunt  Mary's 
steady  regard. 

"  Better,"  he  dictated,  "  but  doctor  won't  let  me 
leave  to-night.  Expect  to  be  down  to-morrow 
night." 

"  That's  good,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  in  a  tone  of 
quiet  approval  which  gratified  Merriam  more  prob- 
ably than  he  realised. 

Eockwell  finished  writing  and  turned  in  his 
chair. 

"  I'll  be  going  down  in  a  few  minutes.  I'll  send 
it  then.  Now  you'll  need  to  dress  for  dinner — 
Senator !  Pack  up  your  things  too.  After  dinner 
you  and  I  will  leave  the  hotel  together  in  a  taxi. 
We  shall  drive  over  to  the  University  Club.  There 
we  shall  simply  go  up  to  the  Library  for  a  few  min- 
utes and  then  come  down  again,  walk  up  Michigan 
Avenue  for  a  block  or  two  and  catch  another  taxi, 
and  drive  to  the  Nestor  House.  There  you  can 
register  under  your  own  name.  Simpson  will  send 
your  things  over.  I  shall  go  on  and  get  Norman 
and  bring  him  back  here.  You  see?  Senator  Nor- 
man leaves  the  hotel  about  nine  o'clock  with  his 
new  manager — me.  Within  an  hour  or  so  he  re- 
turns, still  in  my  company,  and  goes  to  his  room. 
If  he's  all  right,  you  can  go  down  to  Kiceville  on 
the  morning  train  if  you  like.  I'll  come  to  see  you 
before  you  go." 

"  We'll  all  go  over  to  see  you,"  said  Alicia,  with 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR  165 

an  unmistakable  emphasis  on  the  "all."  "We 
shall  have  so  much  to  thank  you  for ! " 

Merriam  did  not  reply  to  this  cordial  remark. 

"  Why  do  we  go  to  the  University  Club?  "  he 
asked. 

"And  not  directly  to  the  other  hotel?  "  said  Rock- 
well. "  Well,  I'm  afraid  we  may  be  rather  closely 
watched.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  suspect  that  the 
driver  of  the  taxi  we  take  here  may  be  questioned 
afterwards  as  to  where  he  set  us  down.  The  Uni- 
versity Club  will  tell  them  nothing." 

To  Merriam's  excited  mood  this  explanation, 
with  its  hint  of  powerful  hidden  enemies  in- 
tently watching  every  move  which  he  and  his 
friends  could  make,  added  a  touch  of  piquancy 
to  the  situation  that  was  nothing  short  of  delight- 
ful. 

He  could  not  well  express  this,  however,  and 
Rockwell,  who  was  all  business  with  no  such  ro- 
mantic nonsense  in  his  head,  immediately  sent 
them  about  their  several  parts.  He  himself  was 
first  to  take  Alicia  to  her  waiting  limousine. 

When  Alicia  and  Rockwell  had  departed  Mer- 
riam sought  to  return  to  his — the  Senator's — bed- 
room. But  Aunt  Mary  detained  him. 

"  Sit  down,  Mr.  Merriam,"  she  said,  kindly 
enough  but  in  a  manner  that  demanded  unquestion- 
ing obedience. 

Then  she  rose  and  entered  Mollie  June's  bedroom 
but  immediately  returned. 

"  Mollie  June  is  dressing  for  dinner,"  she  said. 


166      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

An  instant's  pause.  Then,  looking  hard  at  Mer- 
riam,  "  She's  a  lovely  child." 

Both  the  look  and  the  final  word  provoked  Mer- 
riam  to  a  sort  of  resentment. 

"  I  don't  believe  she's  as  much  of  a  child  as  you 
think,"  he  said  boldly. 

"  It  depends  on  the  point  of  view,  no  doubt,"  said 
Aunt  Mary  drily. 

Then  she  began  to  ask  him  about  himself,  his 
family,  his  own  life,  on  the  farm  of  his  boyhood,  at 
college,  and  at  Riceville — all  those  facts  which 
Alicia  had  so  much  more  tactfully  elicited  in  the 
private  dining  room  off  the  Peacock  Cabaret  the 
night  before  and  some  others  in  which  Alicia  had 
not  been  interested.  Merriam  had  nothing  to  be 
ashamed  of  and  spoke  up  promptly  and  manfully 
in  his  replies,  wondering  in  the  back  of  his  mind 
the  while  what  inscrutable  thought  or  purpose 
prompted  Aunt  Mary  in  her  catechising.  He  little 
dreamt  that  the  whole  course  and  happiness  of  his 
life  turned  on  the  showing  he  was  able  to  make  in 
this  odd  examination. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Aunt  Mary — whatever  her 
idea  may  have  been — was  satisfied.  When  at  length 
she  had  no  more  questions  to  ask  the  expression  of 
her  eyes,  though  they  still  rested  on  him,  was  al- 
most one  of  absence.  She  drew  a  deeper  breath 
than  was  her  wont — suggestive,  at  least,  of  a 
sigh. 

"  You  give  a  good  account  of  yourself,"  she  said. 
"  You  are  worthy  of  the  Norman  blood." 


COUNCIL  OF  WAR  167 

Greater  praise  than  that  no  man  could  have  from 
Aunt  Mary,  as  Merriam  dimly  realised. 

"  I  wish  George  were  more  like  you." 

Immediately  she  added,  with  a  conscious  return 
to  dominating  briskness : 

"  You  must  dress.     So  must  I." 

And  she  rose  and  without  looking  again  at  Mer- 
riam went  into  Mollie  June's  bedroom. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER 

AT  last,  at  twenty-five  minutes  after  six,  Mer- 
riam  sank,  exhausted  but  immaculate,  into 
an  easy  chair  and  lit  a  cigarette,  in  an  effort  to 
compose  his  nerves  and  regain  the  sang  froid  he 
needed  for  his  imminent  role  of  a  particularly  deb- 
onair senator  of  the  United  States  acting  as  host 
to  a  brilliant  dinner  party. 

At  half  past  six  precisely,  Aunt  Mary  knocked 
on  his  door  and  he  opened  that  door  and  announced 
himself  ready. 

Aunt  Mary  wore  another  black  evening  gown, 
very  similar,  in  masculine  eyes,  to  the  one  in  which 
she  had  appeared  the  night  before,  except  that  it 
was  less  conspicuously  burdened  with  jet.  Tall  and 
erect,  with  her  gray  hair  plainly  but  carefully 
dressed,  she  looked  every  inch  a  senator's  sister  and 
— this  would  have  pleased  her — a  Norman. 

Advancing  into  the  sitting  room,  Merriam  en- 
countered Mollie  June,  standing  again  beside  the 
bowl  of  roses.  She  was  in  pink — tulle  over  satin, 
though  Merriam  could  not  have  described  it  so. 
But  the  vivid  colour  and  the  dainty  softness  of  the 
fabric  he  could  appreciate  quite  well  enough,  at 

168 


THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER          169 

least  in  their  contiguity  to  the  slender  figure,  white 
throat  and  shoulders,  and  charming  complexion  of 
Mollie  June.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  looked  a 
moment  longer  than  he  should.  The  debonair  sen- 
atorial outside  of  him  was  moved  to  say,  "  How 
lovely  you  are ! "  But  the  Ricevillian  pedagogue 
underneath  blocked  the  utterance.  Perhaps  his 
eyes  said  it  plainly  enough  to  satisfy  Mollie  June, 
for  she  evinced  no  disappointment. 

"  We  must  go  right  down,  mustn't  we?  "  she  said, 
raising  her  eyes  from  the  roses. 

"  Yes,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  in  a  tone  of  jarring 
briskness. 

A  male  figure  which  Merriam  had  not  perceived 
stepped  out  of  the  background,  moved  to  the  hall 
door,  and  opened  it.  Merriam  saw  that  it  was  Dr. 
Hobart,  quite  as  point-device  as  himself  and  rather 
more  at  ease  but  not  nearly  so  handsome  (though 
of  this,  I  assure  you,  Merriam  never  thought  at 
all). 

Aunt  Mary  and  Mollie  June  passed  through  the 
door. 

"  Come  along,  Senator,"  said  Dr.  Hobart,  in  ex- 
cellent spirits,  and  Merriam  mechanically  followed 
and  mechanically  paused  and  waited  while  the 
physician  closed  and  locked  the  door. 

"  This  must  be  great  fun  for  you,"  said  Dr.  Ho- 
bart as  they  went  down  the  hall  towards  the 
elevators. 

"Yes,"  returned  Merriam  without  conviction, 
his  eyes  on  a  girlish  figure  in  pink  that  moved 


170      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

ahead  of  him.  "  Fun  "  did  not  strike  him  as  ex- 
actly the  word. 

Fortunately  at  this  point  a  small  incident  oc- 
curred which  served  to  bring  Merriam  out  of  the 
brown  study — or  perhaps  we  may  say  the  roseate 
study — into  which  he  had  fallen. 

As  they  approached  the  elevator  lobby  he  became 
aware  of  the  pretty  floor  clerk  who  on  the  previous 
evening  had  been  wearing  Senator  Norman's  vio- 
lets. He  was,  of  course,  entirely  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  on  his  way  to  Norman's  rooms  that  morn- 
ing he  had  passed  her  rudely  by  without  a  glance, 
but  he  did  notice  that  this  evening  she  wore  no 
flowers  and  that  she  studiously  avoided  seeing  him 
and  smiled  her  best  smile  upon  Dr.  Hobart  instead. 
That  gentleman,  with  a  shade  too  much  alacrity, 
stepped  aside  so  as  to  pass  close  to  her  desk  and, 
leaning  down,  spoke  to  her.  The  pretty  floor  clerk, 
from  the  toss  of  her  head  and  the  pleased  smile  on 
Hobart's  face,  had  said  something  saucy  in  reply 

<{  Good  enough,"  thought  Merriam,  as  they  all 
stepped  into  the  elevator.  "  I'm  glad  she  has  more 
interests  than  one,"  and  thought  no  more  of  the 
incident  at  the  time. 

In  a  moment  or  two  more  they  had  reached  the 
basement  floor,  which  was  their  destination. 

Opposite  the  elevators  on  this  floor  was  a  small 
reception  room  or  parlour,  and  here  Senator  Nor- 
man's other  guests  were  awaiting  him — Kockwell, 
Murray,  Mayor  Black,  Alicia,  and  Alicia's  father. 

To  the  last-named  gentleman  Merriam  was  imme- 


THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER  171 

diately  presented.  He  was  a  stoutish,  jovial  man  of 
fifty  or  so,  bald  of  pate  and  humorous  of  eye,  and 
the  amused  particularity  with,  which  he  surveyed 
Merriam  and  the  gusto  with  which  he  addressed 
him  as  "  Senator  "  showed  both  that  Alicia  had  per- 
formed her  task  of  enlightening  him  and  that  she 
had  been  right  as  to  the  attitude  he  would  take. 

"  Splendid !  "  he  whispered  to  Merriam.  "  You 
would  have  fooled  me  all  right,"  and  he  beamed  de- 
lightedly. 

Alicia  gave  him  only  a  minute.  "They  are 
ready,"  she  said.  "We  are  to  go  right  in.  You 
are  to  walk  with  me."  (This  last  to  Merriam.) 

In  a  moment,  therefore,  Merriam  found  himself 
escorting  Alicia  down  a  sort  of  central  aisle  among 
the  tables  of  the  Peacock  Cabaret,  behind  an  excess- 
ively urbane  head  waiter,  conscious  that  the  rest 
of  his  guests  were  making  a  more  or  less  imposing 
procession  after  them,  and  intensely  conscious  of 
suspended  conversation  throughout  the  great  res- 
taurant and  of  countless  curious  eyes  staring 
across  rosebuds  and  water  bottles  at  himself. 

"  Say  something  to  me,"  whispered  Alicia.  "  You 
mustn't  look  self-conscious." 

Merriam  glanced  at  her  and  realised  for  the  first 
time  that  evening  her  vivid,  vigorous,  peony-like 
beauty. 

"What  can  I  say,"  he  asked  smiling,  "except 
'  How  lovely  you  are '?  "  and  he  wondered  why  it 
was  so  easy  to  say  this  to  Alicia  when  he  had  been 
unable  to  say  it  to  Mollie  June. 


172      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Bravo,  Boy  Senator ! "  applauded  Alicia,  and 
then  they  reached  the  haven  of  that  alcove  which 
Eockwell  had  promised. 

It  was  really  a  small  square  room  quite  separate 
from  the  main  part  of  the  Peacock  Cabaret  except 
that  there  was  no  wall  between.  The  head  waiter 
guided  Merriam  to  the  seat  at  the  far  end  of  the 
table.  Thus  when  he  sat  down  he  would  be  facing 
the  main  dining  room,  visible  to  all  its  occupants, 
yet  screened  from  them  by  the  table  and  his  own 
guests  about  that  table.  It  was  really  an  excellent 
device  for  displaying  him  in  public  and  still  pro- 
tecting him  from  close  inspection. 

In  a  moment  the  whole  party  had  arrived  and 
been  seated. 

A  canape"  was  being  served,  and  Alicia  at  his  end 
of  the  table  and  her  father  at  the  other  end  were 
starting  conversation.  Merriam  glanced  across 
the  board  at  Mollie  June.  For  some  reason  a 
charming  girl  never  looks  more  lovely  than  at 
table.  She  looked  up  and  caught  his  gaze.  Her 
face  was  grave.  He  thought  she  looked  wistful. 
For  a  moment  only  he  met  her  eyes,  then  turned 
to  reply  to  a  remark  of  Alicia's.  Somehow  his 
spirits  soared.  He  plunged  into  the  conversation 
with  a  zest  which  he  had  hardly  known  since  his 
fraternity  days.  Mollie  June  said  little,  but  she 
laughed  at  the  stories  and  seemed  to  become  excited 
and  happy.  She  was  content,  perhaps,  to  enact  the 
r61e  of  the  gallery  to  which  Merriam  was  playing 
with  such  excellent  effect.  As  for  Rockwell  and 


THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER  173 

Aunt  Mary,  they  sat  by  in  serene  content :  the  affair 
was  going  well;  as  long  as  that  was  the  case  they 
need  not  exert  themselves. 

The  mildly  uproarious  party  undoubtedly  at- 
tracted the  desired  amount  of  attention  from  the 
main  dining  room.  Eyes  were  turned  and  necks 
craned,  and  couples  and  groups  that  passed  the 
alcove  almost  invariably  slowed  their  steps  to 
stare.  Some  dozens  of  men  who  had  heard  the 
stories  of  the  real  Norman's  whereabouts  were  con- 
vinced that  these  were  false,  at  least  in  part;  by 
the  witness  of  their  own  eyes  they  knew  that  the 
Senator  was  that  evening  at  any  rate  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family  at  the  hotel.  They  could  be  relied 
upon  to  assert  as  much  in  all  parts  of  the  city  on 
the  following  day. 

Only  one  outsider  ventured  to  intrude  upon  the 
party  and  submit  Merriam  to  the  ordeal  of  closer 
inspection,  and  he  got  no  nearer  than  the  length  of 
the  table.  This  was  the  Colonel  Abbott  whom  Mer- 
riam had  so  perilously  encountered  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  his  play-acting  the  night  before.  Mer- 
riam remembered  him  vividly,  called  him  by  name, 
and  replied  cordially  to  his  expressions  of  pleasure 
at  finding  him  recovered  from  his  threatened  indis- 
position. So  that  danger  passed,  and  the  table, 
after  a  brief  exchanging  of  relieved  glances,  recov- 
ered its  gayety,  perhaps  with  some  accentuation. 

A  little  later  came  a  reporter.  Merriam  pro- 
fessed that  he  had  "  nothing  to  say."  Asked  if  it 
was  true  that  he  was  to  speak  at  the  Reform  League 


174      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

luncheon  on  the  morrow,  he  replied,  with  an  inner 
quailing  but  with  outward  composure,  that  he 
was. 

The  reporter  turned  to  Mr.  Wayward.  Was  it 
true  that  he  intended  to  make  a  contribution  to  the 
campaign  fund  of  the  Reform  League?  Mr.  Way- 
ward's  joviality  suffered  an  eclipse.  His  eyes  fell. 
But  on  raising  them  he  encountered  a  glance  from 
his  daughter  that  can  only  be  described  as  stern, 
and  promptly  admitted  that  it  was  true. 

The  reporter  tried  Rockwell,  but  the  latter  shook 
his  head  so  indomitably  that  the  interviewer  at 
once  abandoned  him  and  passed  to  Mayor  Black. 
That  gentleman  promptly  and  as  it  were  auto- 
matically gave  utterance  to  several  eloquent 
phrases,  too  meaningless  to  be  recorded.  Even  the 
reporter  neglected  to  make  notes  of  them,  and 
looked  about  the  table  for  other  prey.  Finding 
none,  he  excused  himself  with  the  remark,  "  I  am 
making  note  of  the  names,  of  course,"  and  disap- 
peared. 

Once  more  the  conspiratorial  table  drew  a  long 
breath  and  endeavoured  to  recover  its  festive  mood, 
but  before  much  progress  had  been  made  in  that 
direction  a  bell  boy  came  with  a  note  addressed  to 
Senator  Norman  and  asking  that  he  and  Mr.  Rock- 
well come  to  Room  D,  one  of  the  private  dining 
rooms. 

Merriam  passed  the  note  to  Rockwell  and  then  to 
Aunt  Mary,  and  the  three  prime  conspirators 
stared  at  one  another.  None  of  them  knew  the 


THE  SENATORIAL  DLNTNER  175 

handwriting,  which  was  poor  and  hurried  and  in 
pencil. 

"  I'll  go,"  said  Rockwell.    "  You  stay  here." 

The  rest  of  the  party  did  not  know  what  had  hap- 
pened, but  in  their  situation  the  most  trivial  inci- 
dent was,  of  course,  sufficient  to  cause  uneasiness. 
The  conversation  during  Rockwell's  absence  was 
forced  and  fragmentary.  In  fact,  it  was  almost  a 
solo  performance  on  Alicia's  part.  Merriam  caught 
Mollie  June's  eyes  upon  him,  and  was  grateful  for 
their  expression  of  self -unconscious  solicitude. 

Presently  the  boy  returned  again  with  the  same 
note,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  scribbled :  "  Come 
—Room  D.  Rockwell." 

Merriam  showed  it  to  Aunt  Mary. 

"  Is  that  his  handwriting?  " 

"  Yes,  it  is." 

"  Then  I  suppose  I  must  go." 

He  rose,  murmured  an  "  excuse  me  "  to  the  table 
at  large,  and  made  his  way  towards  the  open  end  of 
the  alcove.  As  he  did  so  he  glanced  at  Mollie  June. 
Alarm  stood  in  her  eyes.  Coming  opposite  her 
chair,  he  bent  down  and  said  gently : 

"  It's  all  right.     I  probably  shan't  be  long." 

It  was  perhaps  a  little  too  much  in  the  tone  and 
manner  that  Mollie  June's  real  husband  might 
properly  have  used.  Mollie  June  herself  did  not 
seem  to  notice  this;  she  appeared  duly  comforted. 
But  Mr.  Wayward,  at  her  left,  undoubtedly  stared 
after  Merriam  with  an  odd  expression  in  his  genial 
eyes. 


176      MOLLEE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Following  the  bell  boy,  Merriam  tried  hard  to 
think  what  might  be  in  store  for  him.  "  Thomp- 
son "  and  "  Crockett "  were  the  only  ideas  his  blank 
mind  could  muster.  Had  they  discovered  the  trick 
and  come  to  threaten  him  with  exposure?  Well, 
Rockwell  would  be  present.  He  leaned  heavily  on 
Rockwell. 

The  boy  stopped  before  a  curtained  door. 

"  This  is  it,  sir,"  he  said  and  waited  expectantly. 

Merriam  fumblingly  produced  a  dime,  and  the 
boy  departed.  Drawing  a  deep  breath,  he  pushed 
aside  the  curtain  and  entered  Room  D. 

To  his  great  relief  the  only  persons  present  were 
Rockwell  and  Simpson.  They  were  both  standing, 
beside  a  bare  table.  Merriam  vaguely  remembered 
that  Simpson  had  not  appeared  in  connection  with 
the  serving  of  the  last  two  or  three  courses. 

"  Now  tell  it  again,"  said  Rockwell  promptly. 

The  waiter  looked  steadily  at  Merriam. 

"  It's  this  way,  sir,"  he  said.  "  Mr.  Thompson, 
as  was  the  Senator's  manager  until  this  morning, 

has  found  out  where  the  Senator  really  is,  at " 

the  man  looked  away.  "Jennie's,"  he  finished, 
without  expression  in  his  tone.  "There's  a  girl 
she  lives  with,  Margery  Milton,  who's  a  milliner's 
assistant  at  one  of  the  department  stores.  He  got 
it  from  her.  Straight  from  her  he  came  here  to 
have  dinner  with  Mr.  Crockett,  out  in  the  Cabaret. 
When  I  saw  them  come  in,  I  turned  your  party  over 
to  another  man  and.  served  them  myself.  I  man- 
aged to  hear  a  lot  of  what  they  said.  Mr.  Crockett 


THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER  177 

had  learned  of  your  dinner  party,  of  course.  Put- 
ting that  together  with  what  Mr.  Thompson  had 
got  from  Margery,  they  saw  the  game,  Mr.  Crock- 
ett would  hardly  believe  it  at  first.  But  Mr. 
Thompson  means  to  make  sure.  He's  going  to 
Jennie's  himself  about  ten  o'clock  to-night — they 
have  some  kind  of  a  committee  first, — and  force  his 
way  in,  if  necessary,  and  see  the  Senator  himself. 
Then  they'll  have  proof,  you  see.  I  thought  I'd 
better  let  you  and  Mr.  Rockwell  know." 

"You  did  just  right,"  said  Rockwell  warmly, 
"  and  we'll  make  it  worth  your  while." 

He  turned  abruptly  to  the  younger  man. 

"Merriam!  You're  the  only  one  who  can  save 
us  in  this  fix." 

"  How?  "  said  Merriam,  to  whom  it  seemed  that 
all  was  lost. 

"  Listen,  man.  You  go  back  to  our  table  and  ex- 
cuse yourself  and  me.  '  Important  business.' 
Don't  tell  them  anything  more.  Not  even  Aunt 
Mary.  We  haven't  time.  Better  bring  Murray. 
We  may  need  an  extra  man,  and  we  can  trust  him 
best.  We  three  will  take  a  taxi  at  once.  We  shall 
have  to  circle  about  a  bit,  to  throw  off  possible 
trailers.  But  in  less  than  an  hour  we'll  be  at 
Jennie's.  You  shall  take  Norman's  place  there, 
and  we'll  take  Norman  and  bring  him  back  to  the 
hotel,  to  his  room.  Just  as  we  planned,  only  a  bit 
sooner.  When  Thompson  arrives,  Jennie  shall  let 
him  in.  He'll  insist  on  seeing  you.  Let  him. 
You're  not  Senator  Norman.  Tell  him  so.  Jennie 


178      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

shall  tell  Mm  so,  too.  He'll  see  it  himself,  of 
course,  as  soon  as  he  looks  close  with  his  eyes  open. 
You  and  Jennie  must  make  him  think  you  played 
off  the  resemblance  on  this  Margery  Milton  for  a 
joke.  We'll  fix  her,  too,  of  course.  You'd  better 
tell  him  your  real  name,  so  he  can  look  you  up  if 
he  wants  to.  He  won't  expose  you  in  Eiceville. 
He'll  have  no  motive  to.  And  he  won't  think  any- 
thing of  your  little  escapade  in  itself.  You  came 
to  Chicago  on  school  business — went  out  to  see  the 
sights — got  a  little  more  liquor  than  you  were  used 
to.  Your  taxi  driver  took  you  to  some  dance  hall. 
He'll  interpret  '  Reiberg's.'  You  stayed  there  a 
while — don't  know  what  you  did — met  Jennie  there 
— and  she  brought  you  home.  You  were  pretty 
sick  in  the  morning  and  stayed  over  all  day.  You 
see?  It  all  hangs  together,  and  relieves  Norman 
entirely  of  the  Reiberg  incident  and  Jennie,  and 
cinches  his  blameless  presence  at  the  hotel  all  last 
night  and  all  to-day.  It'll  save  everything!  Bet- 
ter than  we  planned.  Couldn't  be  better ! " 

Eockwell  had  worked  himself  up  to  exultant  en- 
thusiasm. 

Merriam's  emotions  while  this  new  plot  was  un- 
folded were  sufficiently  complex.  There  was  an 
opaque  background  of  sheer  bewilderment.  There 
was  also  a  sharp  sense  of  alarm  at  the  thought  of 
having  his  own  name  appear  in  this  business.  But 
other  sentiments,  less  acute  individually,  but  of 
some  potency  none  the  less,  joined  their  voices  with 
Rockwell's  to  silence  that  alarm.  There  was  the 


THE  SENATORIAL  DINNER  179 

mere  love  of  adventure,  of  playing  a  dangerous 
game,  which  is  strong  in  any  healthy  young  man. 
Then  there  was  the  thought  of  Mollie  June:  he 
would  be  doing  it  for  her — making  a  real  sacrifice, 
of  his  reputation,  possibly  of  his  position,  his  peda- 
gogical career,  for  her  sake.  And,  oddly  enough, 
quite  simultaneously  with  this  thought  of  Mollie 
June,  there  was  a  recollection  of  "  Jennie's  "  voice 
over  the  telephone.  He  was  not  conscious  that  he 
was  curious  to  see  "  Jennie,"  but  I  am  afraid  he 
was. 

Scarcely  half  a  minute  had  passed  when  Rock- 
well, eagerly  scanning  his  face,  cried,  "  You'll  go !  " 

"Yes,"  said  Merriam,  looking  at  Simpson's  im- 
passive countenance  and  surprised  at  his  own 
words,  "  I  suppose  I  will." 


CHAPTER  XVH 

A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY 

ROCKWELL,  as  usual,  gave  Merriam  no  time 
for  reconsideration. 

"  Go  and  make  your  excuses  at  the  table  tken." 

But  Merriam  was  still  looking  at  Simpson.  He 
had  perceived  that  the  impassivity  of  the  waiter's 
countenance  covered  a  blank  misery. 

"  Simpson,"  he  said,  "  we'll  try  to  see  that  this 
works  out  to  your  advantage — at  Jennie's.  Shake 
on  that."  And,  in  violation  of  all  codes  on  which 
the  social  system  rests,  he  held  out  his  hand  as  one 
man  to  another. 

Simpson,  much  more  rigorously  trained  in 
those  codes  than  Merriam  had  been,  hesitated, 
glanced  at  Rockwell.  But  a  light  came  into  his 
eyes.  He  seized  the  hand,  gripped  it,  gave  one 
spasmodic  shake. 

"  Thank  you,  sir !  "  he  said. 

He  dropped  the  hand  and  as  quickly  as  possible 
regained  his  servitorial  manner. 

Merriam  smiled  at  him  and  then  spoke  to  Rock- 
well: 

"  Where  shall  I  join  you — Murray  and  I?  " 

"At  the  Ladies'  Entrance,"  Rockwell  replied. 
"  It's  less  likely  to  be  watched  than  the  other." 

180 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  181 

Merriam  turned  and  passed  through,  the  cur- 
tained doorway,  down  the  hall,  and  along  one  side 
of  the  Peacock  Cabaret.  The  curtain  being  up  on 
the  small  stage  and  the  moderately  comely  demoi- 
selles of  the  chorus  executing  a  dance  which  in- 
volved a  liberal  display  of  white  tights,  he  reached 
his  alcove  comparatively  unnoticed. 

He  stopped  beside  Mollie  June's  chair,  which  was 
nearest  the  open  side  of  the  alcove.  All  the  mem- 
bers of  the  dinner  party  regarded  him  anxiously; 
Aunt  Mary's  face  was  more  than  usually  grim. 
Carefully  pitching  his  voice  so  that  it  should  be 
audible  to  all  at  the  table  yet  should  not  carry  to 
the  main  dining  room  without,  he  said : 

"  I  am  tremendously  sorry  to  have  to  desert  this 
pleasant  company,  but  Mr.  Rockwell  and  I  are 
called  away  on  important  business.  We  should  be 
very  glad  if  you  will  come  too,  Father  Murray. — 
Can  you  come  at  once?  "  he  added  as  the  priest 
stared. 

Aunt  Mary's  lips  opened. 

"  I'll  explain  later,"  said  Merriam  hurriedly. 

As  he  spoke,  however,  he  realised  that  no  oppor- 
tunity to  "  explain  later  "  would  probably  be  af- 
forded him.  Alicia  had  said  they  "  all "  would  go 
to  see  him  in  the  morning  at  the  Nestor  House. 
They  could  not  "  all "  come  to  Jennie's. 

He  looked  down  at  Mollie  June.  She  was  look- 
ing up  at  him.  His  view  of  her  from  above — the 
contour  of  her  face  and  tkroat,  the  recalcitrant 
wave  of  her  soft  hair,  the  brigktnet*  of  ker  lifted 


182      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

eyes — might  have  moved  older  and  colder  blood 
than  Merriam's.  He  was  close  enough  to  catch  a 
faint,  warm  sense  of  her  in  the  air.  He  desired  to 
envelop  her  in  love.  What  he  might  do  he  could 
not  resist.  He  laid  his  hand  gently  over  one  of 
hers  that  rested  on  the  edge  of  the  table  and  bent 
to  her  ear. 

"  Mr.  Eockwell  will  tell  you  to-morrow  what  I 
have  done,"  he  whispered.  "  It  is  for  your  sake, 
Mollie — June." 

He  straightened  up.  He  was  not  flushed  out- 
wardly. He  looked  almost  cold.  Father  Murray 
was  making  his  way  down  the  side  of  the  table. 

"  Good  night,  all,"  said  Merriam.  "  This  way, 
Father  Murray." 

He  glanced  once  more  at  Mollie  June — his  last 
sight  of  her,  he  thought.  Her  face  was  rosy  and 
her  eyes  glistened.  It  was  a  picture  for  which  a 
man — a  very  young  man,  at  least — might  do  any- 
thing, even  sacrifice  his  love.  He  smiled  at  her 
almost  gaily,  turned,  and  passed  out  of  the  alcove, 
Father  Murray  following. 

They  skirted  the  sides  of  the  Peacock  Cabaret  in 
an  effort  to  reach  the  exit  as  little  observed  as  pos- 
sible. Unfortunately,  before  they  attained  that 
goal,  the  curtain  of  the  small  stage  descended,  the 
white  legs  of  the  chorus,  kicking  at  it  as  it  fell, 
were  hidden  from  the  attentive  eyes  of  the  male 
diners,  and  not  a  few  of  these  observed  the  famous 
senator's  escape.  This  probably  mattered  little, 
however,  because  of  Father  Murray.  The  well- 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  183 

known  High  Churchman  was  enough  to  shield  the 
name  of  Norman.  He  could  hardly  be  bound  for 
Reiberg's,  or  even,  it  would  be  argued,  for  "  a  cer- 
tain little  flat,"  in  Father  Murray's  company. 

They  got  their  coats  from  the  checkroom,  went 
up  the  stairs  to  the  first  floor,  and  made  a  detour 
through  passages  to  the  Ladies'  Entrance. 

Rockwell  was  already  there  with  a  taxicab.  He 
motioned  to  them  to  enter  it. 

Merriam  was  a  little  surprised,  and  Father  Mur- 
ray probably  more  so,  to  find  Simpson  already 
within.  Father  Murray  greeted  him  with  clerical 
suavity.  Merriam  said  nothing.  He  was  listening 
to  Rockwell's  colloquy  with  the  chauffeur : 

"  This  cab  will  probably  be  followed.  Your  first 
job  is  to  shake  off  pursuit.  Circle  around  through 
the  Loop — twist  and  turn — until  you're  absolutely 
sure  you've  lost  anybody  who  is  after  us.  Then 
make  for  the  Eighteenth  Street  Station  of  the 
Alley  L.  If  there's  no  one  behind  us  when  you  get 
there,  it  will  be  worth  twenty-five  dollars  to  you 
above  the  fare." 

"  Right,  sir,"  said  the  man.     "  Jump  in,  sir." 

Rockwell  stepped  in  and  slammed  the  door,  seat- 
ing himself  with  Simpson,  his  back  to  the  driver. 
In  a  moment  he  was  staring  intently  through  the 
peephole  window  in  the  back  of  the  taxi. 

"See!  "he  said. 

Merriam,  turning  to  look  over  his  shoulder,  per- 
ceived a  yellow  cab  about  sixty  feet  behind  them,, 
also  starting,  at  about  the  same  pace  as  their  own. 


184      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

They  went  west  to  Fifth  Avenue  and  turned 
north  along  the  car  tracks  under  the  Elevated.  A 
moment  later  the  yellow  cab  also  turned  north  on 
the  car  tracks. 

They  swerved  east  on  Randolph  Street.  For  a 
minute  or  two  the  yellow  cab  did  not  appear.  It 
must  have  been  caught  behind  some  car  or  truck. 
But  presently  it  rounded  the  corner  and  sprinted 
till  it  was  again  within  about  thirty  yards  of  them, 
when  it  slowed  down  to  their  own  pace. 

Rockwell  spoke  through  the  tube  to  the  chauf- 
feur: 

"  That  yellow  cab !  " 

"  I'll  lose  'em !  "  the  man  replied,  with  reassuring 
confidence. 

At  the  second  corner  he  turned  north  again  and 
sped  across  the  Clark  Street  Bridge.  The  yellow 
cab  also  had  business  north  of  the  river. 

Their  subsequent  maneuvers  were  at  first  de- 
cidedly puzzling  to  Merriam  and  his  fellow  pas- 
sengers, with  the  possible  exception  of  Simpson. 
They  sped  around  and  around  a  rectangle  of  streets 
enclosing  half  a  dozen  squares,  with  one  of  its  sides 
only  one  block  from  the  River.  On  the  shorter 
sides  they  sometimes  lost  the  yellow  cab,  but  on  the 
longer  stretches  it  always  appeared  in  full  and 
open  chase  behind  them. 

"  What  the  devil ! "  cried  Rockwell  as  their  driver 
turned  west  for  the  fourth  time  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  rectangle — the  street  nearest  the 
Uiver. 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  185 

Simpson  spoke :  "  He's  all  right.  It's  tlie  bridge 
trick." 

No  further  explanation  was  necessary.  Their 
chauffeur  suddenly  swerved  south  on  Dearborn 
Street,  making  in  a  burst  of  speed  for  the^Biver. 
The  bridge  bell  was  jangling  its  waroitTg  that 
traffic  must  stop  for  the  opening  of  the  bridge 
to  let  a  steamer  pass.  Theirs  was  tue*  last  vehicle 
on  the  bridge.  The  bars  dropped  behind  them. 
Looking  back  through  the  peephole  window,  our 
passengers  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  yellow 
cab  caught  behind  the  bars,  unable  to  follow  them, 
unable  even,  because  of  other  vehicles  crowding  be- 
hind, to  turn  out  and  make  a  de"tour  to  another 
bridge. 

Rockwell  excitedly  seized  the  tube.  "  Good 
work !  "  he  called.  "  I'll  give  you  another  ten  for 
that." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  came  the  complacent  reply. 

With  a  sigh  of  relaxing  tension  Merriam  sank 
back  in  his  corner,  abandoning  the  peephole. 

"Who  do  you  suppose  it  was?"  he  asked. 
"  Thompson?  " 

"Oh,  no,  not  Thompson  himself.  One  of  his 
henchmen.  He  and  Norman  have  all  kinds  of — 
assistants ! " 

"Where  are  we  going?"  asked  Father  Mur- 
ray. 

Rockwell  laughed.  "I'd  almost  forgotten  that 
you  don't  know  yet.  I'll  tell  you,"  and  he  entered 
upon  an  explanation  of  Thompson's  discovery  and 


186      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

proposed  method  of  verification  and  their  own 
counterplot. 

Father  Murray  was  feebly  protesting  against  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  counterplot,  but  these 
complaints  were  interrupted  by  the  stopping  of  the 
taxi.  They  had  reached  the  Eighteenth  Street 
Station  of  the  Elevated. 

Rockwell  looked  quickly  through  the  peephole 
window  and  then  opened  the  door  and  jumped  out. 
The  others  followed.  They  scanned  the  street  in 
both  directions.  There  was  no  other  taxicab  in 
sight. 

Rockwell  stepped  up  to  the  smiling  chauffeur, 
asked  the  amount  of  the  fare,  and  paid  it  with  the 
thirty-five  dollars  bonus. 

"  You  did  the  trick  very  neatly,"  he  said.  "  Now, 
scoot ! " 

"  Thank  you,  sir.     Yes,  sir." 

There  was  still  no  trace  of  curiosity  in  the  man's 
tone  or  glance. 

"  Come !  "  said  Rockwell,  and  he  led  them  to  the 
entrance  of  the  Elevated  Station. 

At  Forty-Seventh  Street  they  left  the  Elevated 
and,  walking  to  the  corner,  waited  for  a  cross-town 
surface  car. 

"What's  the  idea?"  Merriam  asked,  his  mind 
becoming  active  again. 

"  Well,"  said  Rockwell,  "  the  first  thing  our  late 
chauffeur  will  do  after  getting  back  to  town  will  be 
to  gather  in  another  twenty-five  dollars  or  maybe 
more  for  telling  some  one  of  Thompson's  men  where 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  187 

he  left  us.  So  it's  best  to  muss  up  our  trail  a  bit 
more  before  we  strike  Jennie's." 

He  was  hailing  an  east-bound  car. 

As  they  sat  silent  again  inside,  Merriam's 
mind  took  its  cue  from  Rockwell's  last  word. 
"  Jennie's !  "  Phrases  from  hir  one  brief  telephone 
dialogue  with  Jennie  sounder  in  his  ear,  oddly 
clear  and  melodious: 

"  Georgie,  boy !  Don't  you  know  me? — You 
ought  to ! "  with  a  thrilling  little  laugh.  "  You 
must  be  careful,  Georgie,"  in  a  lowered  tone. 
"  Can  you  come  anyway? — You'll  telephone  again? 
— Georgie,  boy !  "  and  the  sound  of  a  kiss ! 

These  phrases — surely  nothing  in  themselves — 
echoed  in  his  mind  with  the  same  unaccountable 
piquancy  and  warmth  with  which  they  had  first 
come  to  him  over  the  telephone.  He  flushed  a  lit- 
tle, sitting  there  in  the  stuffy,  bumping,  jangling 
car,  as  he  recalled  the  way  he  had  involuntarily 
"  played  up  "  to  them.  He  had  promised  to  go  to 
her  if  he  could  get  away,  to  telephone  her  again  if 
he  could.  That  was  mere  trickery  and  deceit,  a 
part  of  the  game  he  was  playing ;  that  was  all  right. 
But  his  final  whispered  "  Dearie,  good  night ! " 
Had  that  been  necessary?  He  remembered  Bock- 
well's  dry  comment:  "You  don't  need  much 
prompting!"  But  Ms  thoughts  ran  away  with 
him  again.  Now  he  was  going  to  see  her — to  spend 
a  night  in  her  apartment.  What  would  she  be  like 
— tall  or  short,  slender  like  Mollie  June  or  plump 
like  Alicia,  fair  or  dark,  with  blue  eyes  or  brown  or 


188      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

black,  curly  hair  or  straight?  He  could  not  frame 
an  image  that  satisfied  him  as  the  instrument  of 
that  voice. 

"  Well,  what  is  it  to  me?  "  he  demanded  roughly 
of  himself,  suddenly  realising  the  tenor  of  his  medi- 
tations. "  See  here,  my  boy,  you  must  be  careful. 
She's  probably  a  regular  chorus  girl — or  worse." 
(But  he  did  not  really  believe  that  of  her. )  "  She's 
nothing  whatever  to  me,"  he  asserted  sternly  to  his 
truant  fancy.  "  She  belongs  to — Simpson.  And 
I  belong  to  Mollie  June." 

The  car  stopped  at  last,  and  Kockwell  was  get- 
ting up. 

When  they  had  descended  into  the  street  Mer- 
riam  found  that  they  were  at  the  end  of  the  line 
by  the  Lake. 

"  Illinois  Central  next,"  said  Rockwell,  grinning, 
and  marched  them  to  the  Forty- Seventh  Street 
Station  of  that  railway.  None  of  the  others  spoke. 

Their  guide  bought  tickets  to  the  City.  "  Are 
we  going  back  to  the  Loop,  then?  "  thought  Mer- 
riam. 

In  a  moment  they  were  on  the  platform.  Mer- 
riam  walked  back  and  forth  apart  from  the  others, 
drawing  deep  breaths  of  the  Lake  air  and  looking 
up  at  the  stars,  dimly  bright  in  the  April  night. 
"  I  belong  to  Mollie  June,"  he  said  firmly  to  him- 
self. 

Presently  one  of  the  odd  little  suburban  trains 
Srew  up,  and  they  entered. 

But  they  had  scarcely  sat  down  and  yielded  up 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  189 

their  tickets  when  Rockwell  routed  them  out — at 
Forty-Third  Street.  Evidently  his  buying  tickets 
clear  to  the  City  had  been  a  part  of  his  elaborate 
ruse. 

Rockwell  went  at  once  to  a  telephone  to  call  up 
a  neighbouring  garage. 

Merriam  took  a  cigarette  and  lighted  it  and  again 
walked  up  and  down.  His  thoughts  now  ran  un- 
bidden upon  Mollie  June.  Images  of  her  crowded 
his  mind:  Mollie  June  rosy  and  bright-eyed  as  he 
had  seen  her  last  at  the  dinner  table  in  the  alcove 
of  the  Peacock  Cabaret ;  Mollie  June  by  his  "  sick  " 
bed,  standing  over  him  after  he  had  impulsively 
declared  his  love,  her  hand  hovering  above  his  hair, 
tears  upon  her  face,  turning  bravely  away  from 
him;  Mollie  June  above  the  roses,  as  he  had  first 
seen  her  that  morning — was  it  only  that  morning? 
— lifting  the  wet  stems  from  the  bowl ;  Mollie  June 
confronting  Mayor  Black,  refusing  in  angered  in- 
nocence to  leave  the  room ;  Mollie  June  in  the  Pea- 
cock Cabaret  the  night  before;  Mollie  June  in  the 
front  row  in  "  Senior  Algebra  "  back  in  Riceville. 
Ah,  he  did  belong  to  Mollie  June,  heart  and  soul. 
There  was  no  doubt  of  that,  and  all  the  Jennies  in 
the  world  were  of  no  account  whatever. 

So  it  was  a  young  man  in  a  very  laudable  frame 
of  mind  indeed — waiving  the  fact  that  Mollie  June 
was  a  married  woman ! — whom  Rockwell  presently 
bundled  into  the  taxi  he  ^iad  summoned.  Father 
Murray  was  already  inside.  Rockwell  followed, 
leaving  Simpson  to  speak  to  the  chauffeur. 


190      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

It  puzzled  Merriam  to  find  Simpson  thus  placed 
in  command,  as  it  were,  and  his  thoughts  came  back 
to  the  present  adventure.  He  listened  closely. 

"  Stop  first  at  Eankin's  Hardware  Store,"  Simp- 
son said  to  the  chauffeur,  "  on  Forty-Third  Street." 

In  a  couple  of  minutes,  it  seemed,  they  stopped 
before  Eankin's  emporium.  Simpson  alone  de- 
scended. The  other  three  remained  in  the  taxicab, 
Eockwell  openly  smiling  at  the  puzzled  inquiry  on 
Merriam's  face  but  vouchsafing  no  enlightenment. 
Merriam  would  not  ask  questions. 

The  hardware  shop  was  closed,  but  there  was  a 
light  within  and  a  man.  Simpson  pounded  at  the 
door  till  he  gained  admittance,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes returned  bearing — a  small  stepladder ! 

"  What  on  earth ?  "  The  words  were  almost 

starting  from  Merriam's  lips,  but  he  managed  to 
swallow  them,  and  listened  again  for  Simpson's 
direction  to  the  driver. 

It  was  an  address :  "  612  Dalton  Place."  That 
meant  nothing  to  Merriam. 

Again  a  brief  drive,  Merriam  laboriously 
cogitating,  with  bewildered  eyes  on  the  small  lad- 
der— an  affair  of  some  six  steps, — which  Simpson 
had  brought  into  the  cab  and  was  holding  upright 
between  them. 

Father  Murray  asked  the  question  which  Mer- 
riam had  so  manfully  (and  youthfully)  repressed: 

"  What's  that  for?  " 

"  You'll  see,"  said  Eockwell,  grinning,  enjoying 
the  mystery. 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  191 

Simpson  remained  as  silent  and  grave  as  an 
undertaker. 

The  taxicab  had  turned  several  corners  and  cov- 
xered  perhaps  a  couple  of  miles  of  streets.  Now  it 
slowed  down,  stopped. 

"  There  ain't  no  612,"  said  the  driver  through  the 
tube. 

Rockwell  took  command  again. 

"  Isn't  there?  "  he  said.    "  Let's  see." 

He  got  out.  Peering  through  the  open  door  of 
the  taxicab,  Merriam  could  see  that  the  house 
before  which  they  had  stopped  was  numbered 
608. 

"612's  a  vacant  lot,"  he  heard  the  chauffeur 
say. 

"  So  it  seems,"  Rockwell  replied.  "  Well,  we'll 
get  out  here  anyway." 

Merriam  eagerly  took  this  cue,  and  the  other  two 
followed,  Simpson  bringing  his  ladder.  Rock- 
well was  handing  a  couple  of  green  bills  to  the 
driver. 

"Drive  on  opposite  where  612  ought  to  be,"  he 
said,  "  and  wait.  We'll  be  back  by  and  by." 

"  This  way,"  he  added,  and  started  with  Merriam 
and  Father  Murray  down  the  street  past  the  vacant 
lot.  Simpson,  carrying  his  small  stepladder  as  un- 
obtrusively as  possible  at  his  side,  followed  lag- 
gingly  behind. 

The  square  beyond  the  next  avenue  seemed  to  be 
occupied  entirely  by  a  huge  block  of  apartments. 
They  did  not  cross  the  avenue  but  turned  the  cor- 


192      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

ner  and  walked  on  down  one  side  of  the  great  flat 
building  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
Their  side  held  a  miscellany  of  small  detached 
houses. 

Merriam  glanced  at  Rockwell.  He  was  slowing 
his  steps  and  seemed  to  be  watching  a  couple  of  men 
who  were  moving  in  the  same  direction  as  their 
own  on  the  other  side  of  the  street  immediately 
under  the  apartments. 

A  moment  later  these  two  men  turned  in  at  one 
of  the  entrances  of  the  flat  building.  After  perhaps 
twenty  feet  more  Kockwell  glanced  over  his 
shoulder.  Merriam  involuntarily  did  likewise. 
Half  a  block  behind  them  was  Simpson  with  his 
ladder.  There  was  no  one  else  in  sight. 

Kockwell  stopped  for  a  second,  then  said, 
"  Come ! "  and  quickly  crossed  the  street  and  en- 
tered another  door  of  the  flat  building. 

Within  the  vestibule  he  stopped  again. 

"  We  must  wait  for  Simpson,"  he  said. 

He  began  reading  the  names  below  the  battery 
of  bells.  Merriam  and  Father  Murray  stared  at 
each  other. 

In  a  moment  Simpson  joined  them  with  his  lad- 
der. Kockwell  promptly  opened  the  inner  door  of 
the  vestibule  and  proceeded  to  ascend  the  stairs. 
Simpson  trudged  after  him,  and  Merriam  and  the 
priest  followed  perforce. 

They  reached  the  second  floor  and  the  third  and 
continued  on  up  to  the  fourth,  which  was  the  top 
floor. 


A  DEVIOUS  JOURNEY  193 

Arriving  there,  Merriam  found  Rockwell  point- 
ing to  a  sort  of  trapdoor  in  the  ceiling  above  the 
landing  at  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

"  Right !  "  he  whispered. 

Simpson  calmly  set  his  ladder  down,  separated 
its  legs,  and  planted  it  firmly  beneath  the  trap. 
He  and  Rockwell  paid  no  attention  to  the  doors  of 
the  two ,  apartments  which  opened  off  the  landing 
within  a  few  feet  of  them.  Simpson  ascended  the 
ladder  and,  exerting  his  strength,  pushed  the  trap- 
door up.  It  moved  with  a  grating  sound,  start- 
lingly  loud  in  their  quasi-burglarious  situation. 
The  night  air  rushed  in.  The  trap  gave  upon  the 
roof  of  the  building. 

Simpson  did  not  hesitate  but  pulled  himself  up 
on  to  the  roof. 

Rockwell  followed. 

"  You're  to  come  too,"  he  said  as  he  looked  down 
at  Merriam  gleefully  and  winked.  He  was  evi- 
dently pleased  with  himself.  "You  wait  here, 
Father  Murray.  Remember,  if  any  one  comes 
you're  a  roof  inspector.  That's  next  door  to  a  sky 
pilot  anyway ! " 

The  priest  groaned  but  made  no  protest,  well 
knowing,  doubtless,  that  rebellion  now  would  avail 
him  naught,  and  Merriam  quickly  followed  Rock- 
well on  to  the  roof. 

It  was  a  flat  tar-and-gravel  roof — not  an  unpleas- 
ant place  to  be  in  the  starry  April  night.  They 
circled  about  chimneys  and  miscellaneous  pipe 
heads  and  stepped  across  brick  ledges,  which 


194      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

seemed  to  separate  different  sections  of  the  build- 
ing from  one  another. 

Presently  they  were  approaching  the  opposite 
side  of  the  building,  having  circled  the  interior 
court  and  light  wells.  They  came  to  another  trap- 
door, a  twin  of  the  one  by  which  they  had  ascended. 

Simpson  was  about  to  open  this  second  trap  when 
Rockwell  spoke: 

"  Wait  a  minute !  " 

Stooping  lower  and  lower  till  at  last  he  seemed 
to  be  almost  sitting  on  his  heels  as  he  walked,  he 
made  his  way  to  the  edge  of  the  roof  on  the  new 
street  and  peeped  over  the  parapet — a  dozen  feet 
perhaps  beyond  the  trapdoor.  For  a  moment  only 
he  looked,  then  returned  in  the  same  cautious  and 
laborious  manner. 

"  We  were  right,"  he  said  to  Simpson. 

"Watchers?"  Simpson  asked. 

"  Two  of  them.  And  half  way  down  the  block 
a  taxi." 

But  now  Simpson  was  carefully  raising  the  trap- 
door. After  listening  for  a  minute  he  put  his  head 
down  and  looked. 

"  Coast  is  clear,"  he  reported. 

"  Go  ahead,  then,"  said  Rockwell. 

So  Simpson  put  his  legs  down  inside,  hung,  and 
dropped  into  the  vestibule.  Rockwell  and  Merriam 
followed. 

Straightening  himself  up  inside,  Merriam  found 
Rockwell  facing  the  door  of  the  right-hand  apart- 
ment. 

"  This  is  Jennie's ! "  he  whispered. 


CHAPTER 

JENNIE 

ROCKWELL  knocked  twice.    A  girl  with  a 
thin,  dark  face  peeped  out. 

"  Hello,  Margery,"  said  Rockwell. 

"  Oh,  how  d'you  do?  "  said  the  girl,  recognizing 
the  speaker.  Relief  was  mingled  in  her  tone  with 
continuing  caution.  "  Who's  with  you?  " 

"Friends,"  said  Rockwell.  "Mr.  Merriam,  the 
Senator's  double.  And  Simpson." 

"  Simpson  can't  come  here ! "  said  Margery 
sharply. 

Merriam  glanced  at  Simpson  and  was  amazed  to 
see  how  moved  he  was.  He  had  a  sense  that  the 
man  could  hardly  keep  himself  from  trembling. 

"  He's  come  to  help  take  Norman  away,"  said 
Rockwell.  "  He  need  go  no  farther  than  the  hall. 
Come,  Margery,  let  us  in.  We  can't  stand  here  all 
night.  I'll  explain  to  both  of  you  inside.  I'm 
George's  friend,  you  know." 

"  Well !  "  Still  unwillingly  Margery  released 
the  chain  and  moved  back,  opening  the  door  for 
them. 

As  they  stepped  inside  she  stared  at  Merriam. 

"  The  devil !  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  No,"  said  the  young  man,  "  my  name's  Mer- 
riam. How  do  you  do,  Miss  Milton?  " 

195 


196      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

He  looked  at  Margery  almost  as  curiously  as  she 
was  looking  at  him.  He  was  really  as  innocent  as 
Mollie  June — more  so,  in  fact,  not  being  married, — 
and  Margery  was  the  first  member  of  the  demi- 
monde or  the  near  demimonde  with  whom  he  had 
ever  had  personal  contact.  He  found  her  disap- 
pointing. She  was  thin  to  the  point  of  angularity, 
in  a  trying  yellow  negligee,  with  straight  black 
hair,  black  eyes  that  were  unpleasantly  direct,  and 
a  lean  dark  face  that  was  undeniably  hard. 

For  a  moment  only  she  stared.  Then  she  shut 
the  door  and  spoke  to  Simpson: 

"  You  stay  here ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Simpson,  with  more  than  servitorial 
humility. 

Kockwell  was  advancing  into  the  sitting  room, 
which  opened  immediately  off  the  tiny  hall,  and 
Merriam,  feeling  himself  dismissed  by  Miss  Milton, 
followed. 

Merriam's  sole  first  impression  of  the  sitting 
room  was  of  a  soft,  rather  agreeable  harmony  in 
yellow.  The  wall  paper,  the  hangings,  the  up- 
holstery of  chairs  and  davenport,  the  shades  of 
lights  were  all  in  mild  tints  of  that  pleasant  colour. 
Probably  Margery's  yellow  negligee  was  intended 
to  fit  into  this  ensemble. 

But  he  had  no  time  for  detailed  observation. 
For  as  they  stepped  forward  the  yellow  por- 
tieres at  one  side  of  the  room  parted,  and  another 
girl  appeared  between  them — undoubtedly  Jen- 
nie, 


JENNIE  197 

This  time  lie  was  surprised  but  hardly  disap- 
pointed. The  figure  between  the  portieres  was  that 
of  a  stage  parlour  maid — just  the  right  height  for 
a  soubrette  and  just  pleasantly,  youthfully  slender, 
yet  rounded,  in  a  trim-fitting  dress  of  some  black 
material,  cut  rather  low  at  the  throat  and  edged 
with  white,  with  a  ridiculously  small,  purely  orna- 
mental, white  apron  with  pockets.  Black-silk- 
stockinged  ankles  and  black,  high-heeled  satin 
pumps  completed  a  picture  that  was  both  chic  and 
demure.  Merriam  remembered  that  it  was  as  a 
parlour  maid  that  Norman  had  first  known  Jennie 
and  guessed  that  this  costume  had  been  assumed 
for  his  benefit. 

In  a  moment  the  portieres  closed  behind  her. 
She  was  looking  at  the  older  man,  having  barely 
glanced  at  Merriam. 

"  How  do,  Mr.  Bockwell,"  she  said. 

Merriam,  almost  with  alarm,  recognised  the 
tones  that  had  so  piqued  him  over  the  telephone. 

Then  she  turned  to  him. 

"This  is Gee,  but  you're  like  him!  I 

wouldn't  have  believed  it." 

"Miss  Higgins,  Mr.  Merriam,"  said  Eockwell 
tardily. 

Merriam  responded  awkwardly: 

"  How  do  you  do,  Miss " 

"  f  Miss  Jennie '  will  do,"  interrupted  Jennie. 

(Merriam  remembered  uncomfortably  how  Mollie 
June  had  hit  upon  a  similar  "compromise.") 

"  I  ain't  partial  to  '  Higgins/ "  Jennie  added. 


198      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I'm  thinking  of  changing  it  to  '  Montmorency.' 
Wouldn't '  Jennie  Montmorency '  be  nice,  Mr.  Bock- 
well?" 

"  I  don't  think  it  fits  very  well,"  said  Rockwell. 
"  You'd  better  change  it  to  Simpson." 

Jennie  coloured.  She  coloured  easily,  as  Mer- 
riam  was  to  learn.  Now  that  she  had  turned  again 
to  Rockwell  he  had  a  chance  to  look  at  her  face. 
She  was  an  exceedingly  pretty  blonde.  Her  throat 
was  attractively  rounded,  her  shoulders  also. 
Those  shoulders  might  be  unpleasant  when  she  was 
older  and  stouter,  but  at  present  they  were  charm- 
ing. Her  chin  and  cheeks  were  also  daintily  full — 
quite  the  opposite  of  Margery  Milton's.  The  cheeks 
were  pink,  slightly  heightened  with  rouge  perhaps 
but  not  with  paint.  The  eyes  were  softly,  brightly 
blue.  The  hair  fair  and  smoothly  wavy,  if  one  may 
attempt  to  express  a  nuance  by  combining  contra- 
dictory terms.  In  short,  she  was,  as  some  of  her 
admirers  undoubtedly  expressed  it,  "  not  a  bit  hard 
to  look  at." 

For  a  moment  Jennie's  colour  flooded.  Then 
came  her  retort  to  Rockwell : 

"  Mind  your  own  business,"  she  said. 

The  words  were  sharp,  but  somehow  the  tone  was 
not.  The  voice  was  still  soft  and — warm.  It  is 
the  only  word.  It  was  the  voice  one  might  attribute 
to  a  kitten,  if  a  kitten  were  gifted  with  articulate 
speech. 

Rockwell  only  laughed.  At  the  same  moment 
Margery  Milton  entered  from  the  hall,  where  she 


JENNIE  199 

had  presumably  been  impressing  upon  Simpson  the 
necessity  of  remaining  in  strict  hiding. 

Jennie  glanced  at  her  friend. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "  may  as  well  sit  down." 

She  dropped  into  a  chair  and  crossed  one  leg 
over  the  other. 

"  You've  come  to  take  Georgie  away,"  she  con- 
tinued as  the  others  sat  down. 

"Yes,"  said  Rockwell.  "Listen,  Jennie.  You 
too,  Margery,"  and  he  began  to  explain  the  new 
situation  which  had  resulted  primarily  from  Mar- 
gery's confidences  to  Thompson.  He  did  not  soften 
this  point  in  his  relation. 

"  See  what  your  gabbling's  done,"  said  Jennie, 
without  anger,  to  her  friend  when  he  had  finished. 
"  You  always  talk  too  much." 

"  I  can  talk  if  I  please,"  said  Margery  sullenly. 

"  It  will  pay  you  better  to  keep  still  this  time," 
said  Rockwell. 

"  Pay  me?  How  much? "  demanded  Margery 
promptly. 

"  Say  a  hundred  dollars." 

"A  hundred !  I'm  mum  as  a  stone  image. 

When  do  I  get  it,  though?  " 

"Here's  twenty  now  on  account."  Rockwell 
held  out  a  yellow-backed  bill,  which  Margery 
quickly  accepted.  "  You  get  the  rest  when  this  is 
all  over." 

"  How  do  I  know  I  get  the  rest?  " 

"  Shut  up,  Marge,"  said  Jennie.  "  You  know 
Mr.  Rockwell." 


200      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"We've  no  time  to  lose,"  Kockwell  continued, 
looking  at  his  watch.  "  It's  twenty-five  minutes  to 
ten  now.  Thompson  said  ten,  but  he  might  come 
a  bit  sooner.  We  must  get  Norman  away  at  once. 
You  understand  that  you're  to  let  Mr.  Merriam  go 
to  bed  in  his  stead.  When  Thompson  comes  you 
must  admit  him.  You  can  pretend  to  be  unwill- 
ing to  do  so,  but  you  must  let  him  in  without  too 
much  fuss.  You're  to  tell  him  that  Norman's  not 
here  and  has  not  been  here — that  there's  a  man 
here  who  looks  tremendously  like  Norman  and  that 
at  first  you  fooled  Margery  into  thinking  it  was 
Norman." 

While  Kockwell  was  issuing  these  instructions 
Jennie's  cheeks  had  grown  hot. 

"  I'm  not  that  kind,"  she  cried.  "  I've  never 
had  any  one  but  George."  Margery  also  glowered. 

"  I  know  that,  my  dear,"  said  Kockwell,  menda- 
ciously perhaps  but  promptly.  "  But  you've  got 
to  do  what  I  tell  you  to-night.  You  don't  care 
what  a  fellow  like  Thompson  thinks.  He  always 
thinks  the  worst  anyhow.  It's  to  save  George. 
He'll  be  ruined  unless  we  can  fool  Thompson  com- 
pletely to-night.  It's  for  George,"  he  repeated. 
"  You'd  do  a  lot  for  George." 

Jennie's  colour  was  subsiding.  She  had  un- 
crossed her  legs  and  was  sitting  erect.  She  looked 
fixedly  at  Kockwell. 

"  I  have  done  a  lot  for  him,"  she  said. 

"  I  know,"  said  Rockwell.  "And  you'll  do  this 
to-night."  He  was  using  his  most  persuasive  tones. 


JENNIE  201 

Jennie  stole  an  almost  timid  glance  at  Merriam. 

The  latter's  youthful  chivalry  was  aroused.  He 
was  filled  with  pity  for  her,  mingled  with  some- 
thing like  admiration  on  account  of  her  prettiness. 
He  saw  her,  more  or  less  correctly,  as  a  pathetic 
victim  of  real  love  and  a  false  social  system.  He 
smiled  at  her  reassuringly. 

"  It'll  be  all  right,"  he  said.  "  I  shan't  trouble 
you  at  all." 

Jennie's  glance  lingered  on  his  face — the  face 
that  was  so  much  like  Norman's.  She  saw  him  for 
the  clean,  innocent,  naive  boy  that  he  was.  He 
was  what  George  Norman  might  once  have  been, 
long  years  ago.  I  am  afraid  that  something  akin 
to  interest  crept  into  her  look.  She  dropped  her 
eyes. 

"All  right,"  she  said  curtly  to  Kockwell.  "I 
suppose  I  will." 

"  Jennie,  you're  a  fool !  "  cried  Margery. 

"  Shut  up,  Marge,"  said  Jennie,  with  whom  this 
seemed  to  be  a  frequent  locution. 

Kockwell  had  already  risen. 

"  Is  George  dressed?  "  he  asked. 

"  No,"  said  Jennie.     "  He's  too  sick." 

"  Come,  then,"  said  Rockwell  to  Merriam.  "  We 
must  help  him  into  his  things." 

He  crossed  the  small  room  and  passed  through 
the  yellow  portieres.  Having  been  at  the  apart- 
ment earlier  in  the  day  with  Aunt  Mary,  he  was 
acquainted  with  its  geography. 

Merriam  rose  to  follow,  but  he  felt  that  some- 


202      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

thing  more  ought  to  be  said  to  relieve  the  half- 
hostile  awkwardness  of  the  situation.  Jennie's 
eyes  were  still  cast  down. 

"  Is  he  pretty  sick? "  he  asked  as  he  moved 
across  the  room.  He  was  not  much  concerned 
about  Senator  Norman,  but  he  could  think  of  no 
other  remark. 

Jennie  raised  her  eyes  and  looked  at  him — an  un- 
readable glance. 

"  Pretty  sick,"  she  said,  almost  indifferently. 

Merriam  paused  a  moment  before  the  portieres, 
looking  back,  still  meeting  her  eyes. 

Then  he  turned  his  own  away  and  pushed  the 
portieres  aside.  He  found  himself  in  a  dining 
room,  done  entirely  in  blue,  as  the  sitting  room  was 
in  yellow.  Rockwell  was  already  opening  a  door 
on  the  further  side.  Merriam  quickened  his  steps 
and  was  close  behind  the  older  man  in  entering  a 
small  white  bedroom. 

On  a  single  bed  therein  lay  Senator  George  Nor- 
man. Evidently  he  had  heard  their  voices  in  the 
sitting  room,  for  he  had  raised  himself  on  his  elbow. 

He  and  Merriam  stared  at  each  other  in  the 
amazement  that  is  inevitable  to  two  men  who  find 
themselves  really  bearing  a  striking  physical  re- 
semblance to  each  other,  however  much  they  may 
have  been  forewarned.  We  are  so  accustomed  to 
the  idea  that  each  of  us  has  a  sort  of  exclusive 
copyright  on  his  own  particular  exterior  that  we 
cannot  seriously  believe  in  anything  approaching 
a  replica  unless  actually  confronted  with  it. 


JENNIE  203 

The  Senator  did  not  look  especially  "  boyish  "  as 
he  lay  there.  His  ruffled  hair  was  indeed  prac- 
tically untouched  with  gray,  but  his  cheeks  were 
haggard  and  feverish,  and  there  were  many  little 
wrinkles  about  his  mouth  and  eyes.  For  all  that 
Merriam  could  hardly  believe  he  was  not  looking 
into  a  mirror.  The  experience  was  hardly  pleasant 
for  either  man.  "  This  is  what  I  shall  be  like  some 
time  when  I  am  old  and  ill,"  Merriam  thought ;  and 
the  Senator  can  hardly  have  escaped  the  bitter  re- 
flection of  the  man  who  has  left  many  years  behind 
him :  "  That  is  what  I  was  once."  Looking  closer, 
Merriam  could  detect  slight  differences.  The  lips 
and  nostrils  of  his  distinguished  relative  were  un- 
doubtedly a  little  fuller  than  his  own,  and — yes,  he 
surely  was  not  flattering  himself  in  thinking  that 
the  chin  was  rounder  and  weaker.  But  above  all 
such  trivial  points  the  likeness  rose  overwhelm- 
ingly, incredibly  complete.  Merriam  even  recog- 
nised a  similarity  of  movement  as  the  sick  man 
impatiently  twisted  himself  on  the  bed. 

Rockwell  was  standing  silent,  also  no  doubt  in- 
specting the  resemblance  of  which  he  had  made 
such  remarkable  use. 

The  Senator  was  tie  first  to  find  his  tongue. 

"  So  you're  my  virtuous  double,"  he  said,  with  a 
sort  of  petulant  scorn. 

"The  voice,  too!"  Eockwell  thought.  He  al- 
most dreaded  to  hear  Merriam's  reply,  which  would 
echo  the  very  quality  and  timbre  of  the  other's 
speech,  as  if  he  were  mocking  him.  But  Merriam 


204      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

did  not  seem  to  notice.  The  fact  is  one  cannot 
judge  the  sound  of  one's  own  voice  nor  appreciate 
the  similarity  in  another's  tones  or  in  an  imitation. 

"  I'm  the  double,"  Merriam  was  saying. 

For  a  moment  longer  the  Senator  stared.  Then 
lie  laughed.  He  evidently  laughed  more  easily  than. 
Merriam,  and  somewhat  differently.  Merriam 
made  a  mental  note  that  if  he  should  be  involved  in 
any  further  impersonation  he  must  be  careful  of 
his  laugh. 

"  Well,  it's  rather  convenient  just  this  minute," 
said  Norman,  none  too  courteously,  "  though  it  may 
be  damned  inconvenient  in  the  end." 

"  We'll  help  you  dress,"  said  Rockwell.  "  We've 
come  to  take  you  to  the  hotel,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that  all  right,"  said  Norman.  "  If 
I'm  to  be  a  damned  reformer,  I  must  get  out  of 
this."  He  laughed  again.  "  Hand  me  those  trou- 
sers, will  you?  " 

He  put  his  legs  out  of  the  bed.  He  had  already 
dressed  himself  as  far  as  his  shirt.  Then  he  had 
apparently  given  the  job  up  and  got  back  into 
bed. 

"  I'm  weak  as  a  kitten,"  he  continued,  "  and  I've 
the  deuce  of  a  fever,  but  I  guess  I  can  make  it. 
You've  a  taxi,  of  course?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rockwell. 

He  did  not  tell  Norman  that  the  road  to  the  taxi 
lay  through  two  trapdoors  and  across  a  roof. 
Neither  did  he  mention  the  fact  that  Merriam  was 
to  stay  at  Jennie's  or  allude  to  Thompson's  com- 


JENNIE  205 

ing.  Perhaps  lie  feared  that  if  Norman  knew  of 
Thompson's  approach  he  would  prefer  to  stay  where 
he  was  and  join  forces  with  him  again. 

In  a  very  few  minutes  Norman  was  fully 
dressed — in  the  evening  clothes  in  which  he  had 
left  the  hotel  the  night  before,  on  his  way,  as  he  sup- 
posed, to  Mayor  Black's.  Rockwell  tied  his  white 
bow  for  him. 

During  the  process  of  dressing  he  and  Merriam 
were  continually  glancing  at  each  other.  Neither 
could  resist  the  attraction.  Several  times  they 
caught  each  other  at  it. 

At  about  their  third  mutual  detection,  which 
happened  during  the  tying  of  the  bow,  Norman 
laughed  again. 

"We're  certainly  a  pair,"  he  said.  "Whether 
aces  or  deuces  remains  to  be  seen,  eh? 

"  Gad,  but  I'm  weak,"  he  added,  sinking  on  to  the 
bed  as  Rockwell  finished  his  job.  "  You  may  have 
to  carry  me  downstairs." 

"We'll  carry  you  all  right,"  said  Rockwell. 
"  We're  all  ready,  aren't  we?  " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Norman. 

Rockwell  stooped  and  picked  him  up  in  his  arms, 
exerting  himself  only  moderately,  apparently,  in  so 
doing.  The  Senator  was  light  on  account  of  his 
carefully  preserved  slenderness,  and  Rockwell  was 
really  very  strong. 

"  Bring  his  hat,  Merriam,"  said  the  latter. 

Rockwell  carried  him  through  the  blue  dining 
room  into  the  sitting  room,  Merriam  following  with 


206      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

the  silk  hat.  Both  Jennie  and  Margery  were 
standing. 

Norman  waved  his  hand  limply  to  Jennie  over 
Rockwell's  shoulder. 

"Bye-bye,  pet,"  he  said.  "I'm  all  in,  you  see. 
Sorry  to  have  bothered  you  like  this  when  I  wasn't 
fit." 

"  Georgie  boy ! "  cried  Jennie. 

With  a  little  run  she  came  up  behind  Rockwell, 
caught  Norman's  hand,  and  kissed  it. 

"  You'll  let  me  know  how  you  are?  You'll  come 
back?  " 

"  Course  I  will,"  said  Norman,  though  he  had 
promised  Aunt  Mary  that  afternoon  that  he  would 
"  cut  out "  Jennie  and  the  whole  of  that  part  of 
his  life  to  which  she  belonged. 

It  may  be  that  Jennie  suspected  something  of 
the  sort.  There  were  tears  in  her  bright,  soft  eyes, 
and  her  cheeks  were  pale  enough  to  make  her  slight 
rouging  obvious. 

"  You  will,  won't  you?  "  she  said.  "  Come  soon, 
Georgie  boy ! " 

Norman  only  smiled  at  her  and  feebly  waved 
again.  Rockwell  meanwhile  was  moving  towards 
the  hallway.  Jennie  followed  closely,  though  Mar- 
gery tried  to  prevent  her. 

"  Let  them  go,  Jen ! "  whispered  Margery. 

"  Shut  up,  Marge ! "  said  Jennie  almost  fiercely. 

And  then  the  catastrophe  which  Margery  had 
been  trying  to  forestall,  and  which  Rockwell  had 
not  sufficiently  foreseen  or  else  had  not  cared  to 


JENNIE  207 

prevent,  occurred:  Jennie  came  face  to  face  with 
Simpson  in  the  little  hallway.  She  stopped  short. 

"  You !  "  she  said. 

"Yes,  Miss  Jennie,"  said  Simpson,  looking  at 
her  steadily.  "  I  didn't  mean  you  should  see  me. 
I  came  to  help  take  Mr.  Norman  away.  It  was  me 
that  discovered  the  plan  to  catch  him  here." 

Jennie  knew  from  Bockwell's  earlier  explanation 
that  this  was  true.  She  tried  to  give  Simpson  what 
she  herself  would  probably  have  called  the  "  once- 
over " — a  scornful  survey  from  head  to  foot.  But 
her  histrionic  purpose  failed  her.  Her  eyes  fell 
too  quickly. 

"  Well,  be  quick  about  it,"  she  said.  For  the 
first  time  her  voice  was  harsh. 

Rockwell  meanwhile  had  carried  Norman  on 
into  the  outer  hall — for  Simpson  had  already 
opened  the  door — and  set  him  down  leaning  against 
the  banister. 

"  Margery !  "  he  called  sharply. 

Margery,  glad  of  any  diversion,  advanced 
quickly  : 

"  What  do  you  want?  " 

"A  stepladder.     Got  one?  " 

«  why— yes !  " 

"  Go  with  her,  Simpson,  and  get  it,"  Rockwell 
commanded. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Rockwell." 

"  This  way,"  said  Margery,  and  she  and  Simpson 
passed  by  Jennie  and  Merriam,  who  stood  a  little 
behind  Jennie,  and  disappeared  into  the  flat. 


208      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Jennie  gave  one  quick  look  at  Norman,  who  was 
leaning  weakly  against  the  railing  staring  in  front 
of  him,  turned  away  with  eyes  that  were  very  bright 
and  a  little  hard,  brushed  past  Merriam,  and  went 
back  into  the  sitting  room  and  sat  down. 

Almost  at  the  same  moment  Simpson  returned, 
carrying  a  rather  tall  stepladder  and  followed  by 
Margery. 

Norman  came  out  of  his  apathy  and  stared. 
Simpson  set  the  ladder  up  in  the  center  of  the  hall, 
mounted  it,  and  climbed  through  the  trap,  which, 
they  had  left  open  when  they  descended. 

"  Here.  Catch ! "  said  Eockwell.  He  tossed 
Norman's  silk  hat  up  through  the  trap,  and  Simp- 
son caught  it. 

Then  he  stooped,  picked  Norman  up  again,  and 
began  to  mount  the  ladder  with  him. 

"  What  in  hell !  "  said  the  sick  man. 

Rockwell  did  not  reply  but  continued  to  mount 
and  then  hoisted  the  Senator  up  so  that  Simpson 
could  catch  him  under  the  arms  and  draw  him 
through  the  trap. 

Finally  he  spoke  to  Merriam : 

"  Take  this  ladder  inside.  Then  you  must  go 
straight  to  bed.  He'll  be  here  any  time  now.  I'll 
'phone  from  the  hotel  when  we  get  there." 

He  swung  himself  up  on  to  the  roof.  The  trap 
closed. 

"  Well,  I'll  be  damned ! "  said  Margery  Milton. 

Merriam  did  not  like  profanity  in  women,  even 
in  Margeries. 


JEXNIE  209 

i 

"  Very  likely  you  will,"  lie  said. 
Margery  looked  at  him  sharply: 
"  You  think  you're  smart,  don't  you?    Are  you 
going  to  bring  that  ladder  in?  " 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A  NEW  ANTAGONIST 

MEEBIAM  shut  the  stepladder  together,  lifted 
it  into  an  oblique  position,  and  carried  it 
through  the  inner  hallway  into  the  sitting  room, 
where  he  stopped,  not  knowing  where  to  go  with  it. 

Jennie  was  still  sitting.  She  looked  up  at  him. 
The  same  expression  of  interest  which  had  showed 
in  her  eyes  once  before  returned  to  them.  She 
smiled  and  shifted  her  position,  crossing  her  knees. 
But  she  volunteered  no  information  as  to  what  he 
should  do  with  the  stepladder  which  he  was  awk- 
wardly holding. 

Meanwhile  Margery  had  followed  him  into  the 
inner  hall,  closed  the  door,  and  put  up  the  chain. 
She  now  came  past  him  and  pushed  aside  the  por- 
tieres into  the  dining  room. 

"Bring  it  this  way,  please,"  she  said,  quite 
politely. 

He  carried  the  ladder  through  the  blue  dining 
room  into  a  kitchenette,  and  thence  through  a  door 
which  Margery  held  open  on  to  a  narrow  back 
porch,  from  which  he  had  a  glimpse  of  a  sort  of 
orderly  labyrinth  of  steep  wooden  stairs  and  narrow 
back  porches  around  the  four  sides  of  an  inner 
court. 

210 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  211 

He  returned  into  the  kitchenette,  which  was  al- 
most entirely  filled  up  with  a  gas  stove.  Margery 
shut  the  door. 

"  Go  into  the  sitting  room  and  talk  to  Jen,"  she 
said.  "  I  want  her  to  forget  about  Simpson.  I'll 
change  the  bed  for  you." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam,  who  began  to  per- 
ceive that  Miss  Milton,  in  spite  of  her  profanity, 
had  certain  admirable  qualities. 

He  went  through  the  dining  room,  hesitated  for 
a  moment  before  the  portieres — he  could  not  have 
said  why, — and  then  pushed  them  open. 

Jennie  had  risen  and  was  standing  beside  a  table 
between  the  windows.  The  table  held  a  parch- 
ment-shaded lamp,  a  newspaper,  a  small  camera, 
and  a  bowl  of  violets.  Merriam  had  not  noticed 
the  flowers  before.  He  remembered  the  violets 
worn  by  the  floor  clerk  at  the  hotel,  and  wondered 
whether  George  Norman  had  saved  himself  trouble 
at  the  florist's  by  ordering  two  bunches  from  the 
same  lot,  to  be  sent  to  different  addresses. 

Jennie  was  looking  down  at  the  flowers.  She 
must  have  been  aware  of  his  presence.  If  so,  she 
was  apparently  content  that  he  should  have  the 
benefit  of  a  good  look  at  her  trim  figure  and  at  her 
face  in  profile,  which  was  its  best  view.  She  had 
a  pretty  nose ;  the  artificially  heightened  colour  of 
her  cheeks  was  charming  in  this  light;  and  the 
bright  knob  of  her  fair  hair  over  her  ear  was  a  most 
alluring  ornament. 

In  a  moment  she  bent  gracefully  down  to  smell 


212      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

the  violets.  As  she  straightened  up  she  turned  to 
look  at  him — a  serious,  appraising  look  that  was 
somehow  intimate.  Then  she  smiled  brightly. 

"  Come  in,  Mr. "  (she  seemed  to  forget  his 

name  and  let  it  go)  "  and  sit  down." 

She  tripped  across  the  room  to  the  davenport 
and  sat,  indicating  that  he  was  to  sit  beside  her. 

Merriam  wanted  both  to  take  that  seat  and  not 
to  take  it.  He  took  it. 

She  crossed  one  leg  over  the  other  and  looked  at 
him,  smiling.  One  small,  squarish,  plump  hand 
lay  on  her  knee,  ready,  Merriam  half  divined,  to  be 
taken  if  any  one  should  desire  to  take  it.  He  won- 
dered if  it  were  true  that  she  had  "  never  had  any 
one  but  George." 

"  I  forget  your  name,"  she  said  confidentially. 

"Merriam."  It  was  not  said  stiffly.  He  was 
too  much  attracted  to  be  stiff.  He  realised  that  he 
was  answering  her  smile. 

"  What's  your  first  name?  " 

"  John." 

"  Then  I  shall  call  you  *  John/  I  don't  like  last 
names — and  '  Mister '  and  l  Miss.' " 

"  They're  stiff,"  he  said,  "  playing  up  "  alarm- 
ingly as  on  a  former  occasion. 

She  scrutinised  his  face,  growing  grave. 

"You're  awfully  like  George,"  she  said,  "ex- 
cept here." 

She  raised  her  hand,  and  with  the  tip  of  her  fore- 
finger touched  his  chin. 

"  You're  sterner,"  she  added. 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  213 

It  was  the  very  point  Merriam  himself  had  noted. 
He  admired  her  acuteness  of  observation.  And  of 
course  he  was  nattered.  But  he  realised  that  he 
was  not  being  particularly  stern  at  that  moment. 

"  I  expect  I  am,"  he  said,  trying  to  look,  if  not  to 
be,  more  so. 

Jennie  moved  an  inch  or  two  farther  away  from 
him,  as  if  a  little  frightened  by  the  iron  qualities 
of  this  male. 

"Where's  Margery?  "  she  asked. 

"  Here,"  said  Margery's  voice,  with  disconcerting 
patness. 

She  came  through  the  portieres  and  surveyed  the 
two  of  them  with  an  ironical  look  that  was  by  no 
means  lost  on  Merriam.  He  felt  ashamed  of  him- 
self. 

But  Jennie  gave  him  a  quick  glance  with  a  little 
pout  in  it,  as  if  to  say,  "  What  a  nuisance !  When 
we  were  just  beginning  to  get  acquainted !  " 

And  straightway  his  shame  fled  and  he  smiled  at 
her. 

Margery,  however,  was  speaking  in  her  most 
businesslike  tones: 

"  I've  changed  your  bed,  and  you'd  better  get  into 
it  as  quick  as  you  can.  It's  late  now." 

"  Yes,"  said  Merriam,  rising.    "What  time  is  it ? " 

Before  he  could  get  out  his  own  timepiece  Jennie 
raised  her  arm  and  glanced  at  a  small  gold  wrist 
watch. 

"  Oh!  Five  minutes  after  ten! "  she  cried.  She 
rose  too.  "  You  must  hurry." 


214      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE 

"  Yes,"  said  Merriam. 

He  moved  to  the  portieres — hesitated.  He  did 
not  know  how  to  take  leave  under  these  novel  cir- 
cumstances. 

"  Good  night,  ladies,"  he  ventured  in  rather  cere- 
monious tones. 

To  his  chagrin  both  girls  burst  out  laughing. 

"  Good  night,  gentleman !  "  Jennie  called  merrily 
after  him,  and  their  renewed  giggling  pursued  him 
as,  in  painful  confusion,  he  crossed  to  the  door  of 
the  bedroom. 

He  shut  that  door  behind  him  and  rapidly  un- 
dressed, stimulated  to  speed  in  his  operations  by  a 
vigorous  mental  kicking  of  himself  as  an  ass  and  a 
"  boob."  A  suit  of  pajamas,  apparently  quite  new, 
was  laid  out  on  a  chair.  He  got  into  these  and 
slipped  into  bed. 

The  moment  he  was  recumbent  he  realised  that 
he  had  forgotten  to  turn  out  his  light.  No  matter. 
He  had  no  idea  of  sleeping.  Besides  Thompson 
would  be  there  any  minute. 

Ah,  Thompson!  With  relief  his  mind  seized 
upon  this  topic.  It  was  sufficiently  absorbing. 
Any  minute  now  Thompson  would  burst  in,  de- 
manding Senator  Norman.  He,  Merriam,  would 
pretend  he  had  never  seen  Thompson  before,  never 
even  heard  of  him.  "  My  name  is  not  Norman,"  he 
would  say.  "My  name  is  Merriam.  Who  are 
you?  And  what  do  you  want?  "  Thompson  would 
stare,  falter,  begin  to  apologise  and  explain.  It 
was  pleasingly  dramatic.  He  pursued  the  inter- 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  215 

view.  His  own  conduct  therein  displayed  the 
quintessence  of  composure  and  savoir  faire.  Jennie 
and  Margery — yes,  both  of  them  were  present — 
would  be  impressed;  they  would  laugh  at  him  no 
longer.  Thompson  was  sacrificed  mercilessly. 

But  the  minutes  passed  and  nothing  happened. 
There  was  no  sign  of  the  real  Thompson.  What 
was  wrong?  The  silence  of  the  small,  lighted  bed- 
room began  to  get  on  Merriam's  excited  nerves. 
Had  Thompson  somehow,  in  spite  of  Rockwell's 
elaborate  precautions,  got  wind  of  the  real  situa- 
tion, discovered  their  trick  before  it  was  played? 
Had  he  remained  at  the  hotel,  seen  the  real  Norman 
return,  and  perceived  the  whole  imposition? 

A  light  knock  sounded  on  his  door.  Merriam 
jumped  and  then  lay  still. 

"  Can  I  come  in?  " 

It  was  Jennie's  voice. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  embarrassed;  but  what  other 
reply  could  be  made? 

Jennie  opened  the  door  and  came  to  his  bedside. 
She  had  changed  her  attire  completely.  She  now 
wore  the  costume  of  a  ballerina — a  tight  pink 
corsage,  very  low  and  sleeveless,  with  the  slightest 
of  pink  loops  over  her  shoulders,  a  short,  fluffy 
pink  skirt  barely  to  her  knees,  pink  tights,  and  pink 
dancing  slippers.  Over  one  of  the  bright  knobs 
of  her  hair  was  a  pink  rose.  She  was  much  more 
brilliantly  rouged  than  before,  and  he  was  con- 
scious of  a  warm  scent  of  powder  and  perfume. 

Merriam  lay  staring  at  her  without  speaking, 


216      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

subconsciously  shocked  perhaps,  but  openly  be- 
wildered and  fascinated. 

She  smiled  at  him  and  seemed  to  be  inspecting 
him  in  return.  Her  left  hand  hung  at  her  side, 
holding  something  heavy,  but  she  put  out  her  right 
and  touched  his  hair — with  a  single  little  move- 
ment ruffled  it. 

"  You  look  very  nice  lying  there,"  she  said  in  the 
most  natural  tones  in  the  world.  "How  do  I 
look?  » 

She  stepped  back  and  pirouetted,  turning  com- 
pletely around  on  her  toes.  The  fluffy  pink  skirts 
swung  out  and  circled  with  her  in  a  most  entranc- 
ing manner.  Merriam  was  quite  dazzled.  The 
white  gleam  of  her  back  as  she  turned,  the  slender 
white  arms,  held  gracefully  away  from  her  sides, 
in  spite  of  that  heavy  something  in  one  hand,  the 
tight  slimness  of  the  waist,  the  glimpse  of  pink  legs 
beneath  the  circling  skirt — he  had  seen  the  like 
only  on  the  stage.  It  was  rather  overpowering  so 
close  at  hand. 

But  in  a  single  rosy  moment  her  revolution  was 
completed.  She  was  facing  him  again  and  relax- 
ing down  off  her  toes. 

"  How  do  I  look?  "  she  repeated,  smiling,  with 
the  slightest  natural  augmentation  of  her  artificial 
flush. 

Merriam  swallowed.  "  Stunning !  "  he  ejacu- 
lated. 

She  beamed.     "  Of  course  I  do,"  she  said. 

Then  her  face  seemed  to  harden.     She  stepped 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  217 

closer  to  the  bed  so  that  she  was  almost  bending 
over  him. 

"  I've  got  a  part  to  play,"  she  said.  "  Well,  I'm 
going  to  play  it."  There  was  a  touch  of  something 
like  defiance  in  her  voice  now.  "  I've  cooked  up  a 
plot  for  Mister  Thompson.  Marge  don't  like  it, 
but  she'll  help.  I'll  show  him !  You've  got  to  help 
too." 

She  raised  her  left  hand,  displaying  the  heavy  ob- 
ject held  therein,  which  he  had  not  yet  identified. 
He  was  somewhat  startled  to  see  that  it  was  a  small 
revolver. 

"  Take  it,"  she  said. 

As  he  did  not  instantly  put  out  his  arm  she  tossed 
it  across  so  that  it  fell  on  the  bed  on  the  other  side 
of  him. 

"  It's  loaded,"  she  said,  "  with  blanks.  Mister 
Thompson  shall  see  you  first.  But  afterwards 
Marge  and  I  will  see  what  we  can  do  with  him. 
We'll  get  him  to  stay  for  a  little  supper,  and  I'm 
going  to  play  up  to  him.  I'll  do  a  dance  on  the 
table.  But  when  he  tries  to  catch  me  I'll  scream. 
That's  where  you  come  in.  You  rush  out  with 
your  revolve?  and  drive  him  out  of  the  house. 
Won't  it  be  fun?  "  she  demanded,  glowing  with  ex- 
citement. "We'll  have  the  goods  on  him.  He'll 
keep  his  face  shut  after  that.  Whatever  he  knows 
or  thinks  about  George!  We'll  have  a  fine  story 
for  Mrs.  Thompson,  if  he  don't.  Oh !  " 

A  doorbell  had  rung  loudly  in  the  kitchenette. 

"There  he  is  now.    Kemember!  When  I  scream!" 


218      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

She  was  gone  from  the  bedroom,  closing  the  door 
behind  her. 

Merriam  lay  as  if  dazed.  This  "  high  life  "  was 
proving  almost  too  fast  for  his  bucolic  and  peda- 
gogical wits.  He  jumped  when  the  bell  rang  again 
more  violently.  Then  he  heard  the  sound  of  the 
hall  door  being  opened  and  a  loud  masculine  voice. 
Was  it  Thompson's?  A  moment  or  two  later  the 
voice  became  more  distinct,  and  he  could  hear  the 
girls'  voices  too.  He  could  not  be  sure  it  was 
Thompson.  Was  it  some  one  of  his  "  henchmen  " 
instead?  Whoever  he  was,  he  was  in  the  sitting 
room.  In  a  moment  or  two  he  would  almost  cer- 
tainly  be  coming  out  to  the  bedroom. 

Merriam  suddenly  remembered  the  revolver  and 
reached  for  it  and  slipped  it  under  the  bedclothes. 

He  had  several  minutes  more  to  wait.  The  voices 
became  lower.  Then  they  were  raised  again.  Sud- 
denly he  heard  the  rings  of  the  portieres  clash — 
the  curtains  had  been  sharply  flung  aside.  Mar- 
gery's thin  voice  came  to  him. 

"  See  for  yourself,  then !  "  it  said. 

"  That's  better,"  said  the  masculine  voice  in  tones 
half  amused,  half  irritated.  Was  it  Thompson? 

Light  footsteps  and  heavy  footsteps  crossed  the 
dining  room  together.  The  bedroom  door  was 
opened. 

"  Sir,"  said  Margery  to  Merriam,  in  tones  a  little 
shrill  with  excitement,  "this  is  a  Mr.  Crockett. 
He  has  some  crazy  notion  about  your  being  Senator 
Norman.  See  for  yourself,  Mr. — Crockett !  "  She 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  219 

spoke  his  name  as  though  it  were  an  insult.  "  Re- 
member, he's  sick,"  she  added  warningly.  Mar- 
gery was  not  a  bad  actress. 

Crockett !  Crockett  himself !  So  much  the  bet- 
ter! With  an  effort  Merriam  steadied  his  nerves. 
Mr.  Crockett  advanced  to  the  bedside — a  tall,  im- 
posing gentleman  in  evening  clothes  with  keen  blue 
eyes  and  a  thin  remnant  of  lightish  hair. 

"Well,  George,"  he  said  blandly,  "glad  to  see 
you.  Your  little  friends  are  very  loyal.  But  they 
couldn't  keep  me  away  from  you." 

Merriam  instantly  disliked  Mr.  Crockett.  He 
plunged  with  zest  into  his  part. 

"  George?  "  he  inquired  coldly.  "  My  name's  not 
George ! " 

"  Oh,  come,  come,  Norman !  You're  caught. 
Fess  up." 

But  he  looked  closer.  At  the  same  moment 
Margery  lifted  a  silk  shade  off  the  electric  bulb 
by  the  bureau,  and  the  cold  hard  light  fell  full  on 
the  younger  man's  face. 

"  Who  do  you  think  I  am?"  said  Merriam.  "And 
who  are  you?  "  he  added  in  an  insolent  tone. 

The  impressive  financier  stared.  He  bent  down 
and  stared  harder. 

"  Well?"  Merriam  demanded  with  all  the  hauteur 
he  could  muster.  And  then :  "  Got  an  eye-ful?  " 

He  had  preconceived  this  colloquy  in  much  more 
dignified  phrases,  but  the  insulting  tag  of  boyish 
slang  popped  out  of  him  unawares.  However,  he 
could  not  have  done  better.  Probably  he  could 


220      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

never,  by  taking  thought,  have  done  as  well.  Sen- 
ator Norman  would  assuredly  not  have  used  that 
expression ;  it  had  been  coined  long  since  his  day  in 
Boyville. 

Mr.  Crockett  was  convinced.  But  he  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  considerable  imperturbability.  He 
merely  straightened  up  and  asked: 

"Who  are  you? " 

The  younger  man  suddenly  decided  not  to  give 
his  name.  There  was  that  in  Mr.  Crockett's  blue 
eyes  that  suggested  an  uncomfortable  pertinacity 
and  ruthlessness  in  following  up  any  clue  he  might 
get  hold  of. 

"  What  business  is  that  of  yours?  "  said  Merriam. 

Mr.  Crockett  blinked.  He  was  doubtless  unac- 
customed to  such  replies.  But  he  merely  asked  an- 
other question : 

"  Where  are  you  from?  " 

"  Down  State,"  said  Merriam.  That  was  both 
insolent  and  safe :  Illinois  is  tolerably  sizable. 

"  How  old  are  you?  " 

Merriam  saw  an  advantage  in  answering  this 
query  truthfully. 

"  Twenty-eight,"  he  said.     "  What  of  it?  " 

"  You  don't  happen  to  be  a  young  nephew  or 
cousin  of  Senator  Norman's,  do  you?  "  asked  Mr. 
Crockett,  hitting  the  bull's-eye  with  his  first  arrow. 

Merriam,  somewhat  startled,  countered  with  a 
flat  denial: 

"  No,  I'm  not.  I've  been  told  I  look  like  him," 
he  added.  "  Somebody  took  me  for  him  last  night. 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  221 

But  I'm  only  related  to  him  through  Adam  and 
Eve — so  far  as  I  know." 

Mr.  Crockett  scanned  him  narrowly : 
"  Somebody  took  you  for  Norman  last  night?  " 
"  They  sure  did."    Having  struck  the  slangy  note 
by  accident,  Merriam  was  enough  of  an  actor  to 
keep  it  up. 

"  I  should  be  much  obliged  if  you  will  tell  me 
about  that." 

Merriam's  self-confidence  returned.  He  had 
been  realising  how  little  this  dialogue  was  develop- 
ing in  accordance  with  his  pleasing  anticipations. 
Instead  of  the  role  of  a  polished  man  of  the  world, 
delivering  brilliant  thrusts  of  irony  and  reducing 
his  interlocutor  to  apologetic  confusion,  he  had 
stumbled  inadvertently  on  that  of  a  slangy  youth, 
submitting  to  be  catechised  by  an  individual  who 
remained  singularly  composed  and  had  proved  dan- 
gerously shrewd.  But  at  last  he  had  led  up  ad- 
roitly enough  to  the  story  which  Rockwell  had 
charged  him  to  tell.  He  set  himself  to  tell  it  in 
character : 

"Well,  if  you  want  to  know,  I  came  up  to  the 
City  on  business — yesterday.  When  I  got  my  work 
done  I  thought  I'd  have  a  little  fun — see  the  sights, 
you  know.  I  don't  know  this  town  much,  but  I  got 
hold  of  a  taxi  man  who  took  me  around.  I  looked 
in  at  several  places.  I  guess  I  had  a  pretty  good 
time.  I  don't  remember  much.  I  had  more  high- 
balls than  I'm  used  to.  We  ended  up  at  a  dance 
hall  somewhere.  There  were  some  pretty  girls 


222      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

there.  Somebody  said,  '  You're  Senator  Norman, 
aren't  you?  '  That  struck  me  as  funny.  '  Sure,  I 
am,'  I  said,  and  I  kept  it  up.  Soon  everybody  in 
the  place  was  calling  me  l  Senator.'  I  treated  the 
gang.  Then  I  got  into  a  fight.  I  don't  remember 
how.  Somebody  knocked  me  down,  I  think.  But 
I  wasn't  hurt  any.  After  that  I  picked  up  this 
little  girl  that  lives  here — the  one  in  pink, — and 
she  brought  me  home  with  her.  I  had  a  bad  head 
on  this  morning  and  a  bad  cold  besides.  The  little 
girl  is  a  good  sport.  She  let  me  stay  here  all  day. 
I'm  going  down  home  in  the  morning." 

"  I  see,"  said  Mr.  Crockett  slowly. 

Merriam  had  need  of  all  his  self-command  to 
conceal  his  elation  as  he  perceived  that  his  for- 
midable antagonist  had  swallowed  bait,  hook,  and 
sinker,  as  the  idiom  goes.  He  was  obviously  piec- 
ing Merriam's  narrative  together  in  his  mind  with 
the  Tidbits  story  about  Norman.  Margery,  who 
had  remained  standing  unobtrusive  and  silent  by 
the  bureau,  flashed  Merriam  a  commendatory 
glance. 

Stimulated  thereby,  he  pertly  followed  up  his  ad- 
vantage : 

"  Care  for  any  more  of  my  personal  memoirs?  " 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Mr.  Crockett  with  a 
rather  sour  smile.  "  Good  night,  Mr. — Mr. " 

He  was  angling  for  the  name  again,  but  with  a 
feebleness  unworthy  of  a  great  financier. 

"Mr.  Blank,"  said  Merriam.  "I've  a  bit  of  a 
reputation  to  keep  up  in  my  own  home  town." 


A  NEW  ANTAGONIST  223 

(<I  see,"  said  Mr.  Crockett  again.  "Well,  I'm 
sorry  to  kave  intruded.  Take  care  of  your  reputa- 
tion!" 

He  turned  away  towards  the  door. 

In  that  open  door  Jennie  had  stood  listening. 
Now  her  cue  had  come.  She  took  it  promptly. 
She  advanced  into  the  bedroom,  stepping  lightly  on 
her  toes,  her  pink  skirt  waving  prettily.  She  smiled 
her  brightest  smile  at  Mr.  Crockett. 

"He  isn't  Senator  Norman,  is  he?"  she  cried 
gaily. 

"  He  certainly  isn't,"  said  Mr.  Crockett,  looking 
at  her.  No  man  could  have  helped  looking  at  her. 

"  You  were  awfully  rude  about  it,"  said  Jennie, 
pouting.  She  had  stopped  about  two  feet  in  front 
of  him. 

"  Was  I?  " 

"  I  should  say  you  were.  Awfully !  You  ought 
to  do  something  to  make  up  for  it." 

"  What  ought  I  to  do?  "  asked  Mr.  Crockett. 

"  You  might  stay  for  a  little  supper  with  Mar- 
gery and  me." 

"  Might  I?  " 

Unexpectedly  Mr.  Crockett  looked  away  from 
Jennie.  He  looked  at  Merriam,  thoughtfully — a 
disconcerting  thoughtf  ulness.  Then  he  turned  back 
to  Jennie. 

"  Perhaps  I  might,"  he  said,  with  a  faint  smile. 

Merriam  read  his  mind.  He  was  sure  he  did. 
The  man  might  or  might  not  be  slightly  attracted  by 
Jennie's  prettiness,  but  what  he  was  thinking  was 


224      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

that  lie  would  be  able  to  get  more  out  of  her  than 
he  had  been  able  to  get  from  Merriam.  The  latter 
at  once  perceived  that  Jennie's  melodramatic 
scheme  was  dangerous  and  silly.  It  might  have 
been  all  right  with  Thompson,  but  not  with  this 
man.  She  hadn't  sense  enough  to  see  the  differ- 
ence. But  he  could  do  nothing  to  stop  her. 

Already  she  had  cried,  "  Oh,  goody ! "  like  a 
little  girl. 

She  stepped  past  Mr.  Crockett,  brushing  him 
with  her  skirts,  put  her  hands  on  his  shoulders,  and 
began  playfully  to  push  him  towards  the  dining 
room. 

"  It's  all  ready,"  she  was  saying.  "  We  got  it 
for  the  man  inside,  but  he  says  he  isn't  hungry. 
We  have  sandwiches  and  olives  and  cheese  and 
beer — and  there's  whiskey,  if  you  like." 

"  I'll  take  beer,"  said  Mr.  Crockett,  mustering  a 
certain  lightness  and  allowing  himself  to  be  pushed. 

Merriam  looked  at  Margery,  still  standing  by  the 
bureau.  She  too  had  changed  her  costume.  She 
now  wore  an  evening  dress  of  black  and  gold,  in 
which  she  looked  very  well,  rather  brilliant,  in  fact. 
But  what  Merriam  noticed  was  the  understanding 
look  in  her  eyes.  She  had  read  Mr.  Crockett's 
purpose  as  clearly  as  he  had. 

"We'll  be  careful,"  she  said.  "You  did  fine. 
Shall  I  turn  out  the  light?  " 

"  No,"  said  Merriam.     "  Leave  it,  please." 

She  walked  out  of  the  room  and  closed  the  door. 


CHAPTER  XX 

AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY 

THOUGH  Margery  had  closed  the  door  Mer- 
riam  could  hear  practically  everything  that 
went  on  in  the  adjoining  room — as  one  commonly 
can  in  an  apartment. 

"Get  the  food  from  the  ice  chest,  will  you, 
Marge? "  cried  Jennie,  in  tones  whose  gaiety 
sounded  genuine.  "  I'll  set  out  the  drinks.  Let's 
have  a  cocktail  to  start  with,  Mr. " 

She  interrupted  herself : 

"  What's  your  first  name?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Crockett,  "  one  of  my  first  names 
is  Henry." 

"  Then  I'll  call  you  *  Harry.'  I  hate  last  names 
— and  i  Mister  '  and  '  Miss ' !  " 

Merriam  in  his  recumbent  solitude  made  a  cyn- 
ically humorous  grimace.  She  had  used  those 
very  words  with  him — had  begun  the  same  way. 
Her  regular  formula  doubtless. 

"  I'm  <  Jennie,'  you  know,"  she  continued. 
"  Now,  what  kind  of  cocktail?  " 

"  I'll  stick  to  beer,  please." 

"  But  I  want  to  start  with  a  cocktail !  Have  one 
with  me !  Please !  " 

The  tone  was  that  of  a  teasing  child.  In  his 
225 


226      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

mind's  eye  Merriam  could  see  vividly  the  trim  pink 
figure  (as  it  had  pirouetted  before  him)  and  the 
pretty  pouting  face.  But  Crockett  was  apparently 
unmoved. 

"  Bye  and  bye,"  he  said  suavely.  "  Go  ahead 
with  your  cocktail.  We  don't  all  have  to  drink  the 
same  things,  do  we?  I'll  start  with  beer  and  work 
up  to  cocktails." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Jennie,  with  a  swift  return  to 
unpetulant  gaiety,  "  Marge  is  bringing  your  old 
beer.  Oh,  goody!  See!  Cheese  sandwiches  and 
chicken  sandwiches  and  lettuce-and-mayonnaise 
sandwiches ! " 

Evidently  Margery  had  returned  well  laden  from 
the  ice  chest. 

"  Which  kind  will  you  have,  Harry?  " 

"  Cheese,  thank  you,"  said  "  Harry." 

"  There !     With  my  own  fingers !  " 

Jennie  spoke  with  some  confidence  that  the  touch 
of  her  fingers  would  render  bread  and  cheese  am- 
brosial. 

"Thank  you,"  said  "Harry"  again,  with  the 
barest  nuance  of  dryness  in  his  tone.  "  I'll  open 
the  beer.  What  will  you  drink,  Miss  Milton?  " 

Undoubtedly  he  was  snubbing  Jennie!  Those 
blue  eyes  of  his  might  perhaps  be  attentive  enough 
to  white  arms  and  tight  waists  and  pink  legs  when 
he  himself  had  sought  them  out,  but  they  were  not 
to  be  distracted  by  any  such  frivolous  phenomena 
when  serious  business  was  afoot.  Jennie  would 
fail !  Merriam  was  sure  of  it. 


A1ST  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY        227 

But  at  any  rate  she  was  not  easily  snubbed. 

"  Her  name's  Margery,"  ske  cried,  consistent  in 
her  antipathy  to  surnames. 

"  Well,  Margery?  "  said  Crockett,  complaisantly. 

"  Beer,"  said  Margery. 

It  was  the  first  word  Merriam  had  heard  her 
speak.  Her  taciturnity  comforted  him.  Jennie 
was  a  little  fool,  but  Margery  would  keep  her  head. 
They  would  waste  their  time  and  their  sandwiches 
and  beer  on  Crockett,  but  perhaps  she  would  foil 
any  inquiries  he  might  presently  attempt. 

"Don't  set  things  in  the  middle  of  the  table, 
Marge,"  cried  Jennie.  "  Set  'em  around  the  edge. 
I'm  going  to  do  a  dance  for  you,  Harry.  Wouldn't 
you  like  to  see  me  dancing  on  the  table?  " 

"  It  would  be  very  charming,"  said  "  Harry." 
But  the  tone  was  merely  gallant;  it  betokened  no 
quickening  of  pulse. 

"  I  must  have  a  sandwich  first,  though,"  said 
Jennie  quickly.  Even  she  perceived  that  she  was 
not  making  progress. 

There  followed  eating  and  drinking,  accompanied 
by  a  patter  of  gay,  disconnected  sallies  from  Jen- 
nie, relating  chiefly  to  the  eatables  and  drinkables. 
"Harry,"  continually  appealed  to  by  that  name, 
remained  calmly  polite.  Margery,  when  addressed, 
responded  in  monosyllables.  Ripe  olives  and  cold 
tongue  and  mustard  were  produced.  Jennie  had 
her  cocktail,  and  then  another.  She  needed  stimu- 
lant, poor  girl,  to  keep  up  the  gay  vivacity  which 
was  meeting  with  so  little  encouragement.  A  sec- 


228      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

ond  bottle  of  beer  was  opened  for  "Harry"  and 
Margery. 

Meanwhile  Merriam,  still  listening,  was  engaged 
also  in  active  cogitation.  He  saw  well  enough,  into 
Crockett's  thought.  The  latter  had  been  momen- 
tarily convinced  by  his,  Merriam's,  well-told  tale. 
(Margery  had  said  he  had  "  done  fine.")  But  the 
keen,  realistic  mind  behind  those  blue  eyes  had  al- 
most immediately  rebounded  and  seized  upon  the 
overwhelming  inherent  improbability  of  that  yarn. 
That  there  should  be  a  man  without  close  relation- 
ship to  Norman  who  resembled  him  so  strongly  was 
in  itself  decidedly  remarkable.  That  this  man 
should  encounter  Norman's  mistress,  by  pure 
chance,  at  a  public  dance  and  go  home  with  her 
was  even  more  curious.  And  that  all  this  should 
happen,  merely  fortuitously,  on  the  very  night  on 
which  Senator  Norman  had  unaccountably  broken, 
before  nine  o'clock,  solemn  promises  given  with 
every  appearance  of  sincerity  and  willingness 
shortly  before  eight,  and  suddenly  gone  over  to  a 
party  for  which  throughout  a  score  of  years  he  had 
expressed  nothing  but  dislike  and  contempt — the 
mathematical  chances  against  such  a  series  of  coin- 
cidences were  simply  incalculable. 

It  was  a  quick,  clear  perception  of  this  abstract, 
apriori  incredibility  that  Merriam  had  read  in 
Crockett's  final  glance  before  Jennie  playfully 
pushed  him  out  of  the  bedroom.  Doubtless  he  was 
still  revolving  it  in  his  mind  as  he  sat  at  Jennie's 
table,  responding  with  merely  mechanical  polite- 


AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PAETY        229 

ness  to  her  rather  pitiful  attempts  to  pique  his  in- 
terest and  desire.  Well,  let  him  revolve  it.  The 
story  all  hung  together.  What  could  he  make  of 
it?  Little  enough,  probably,  with  the  data  he  had 
now.  But  that  was  why  he  was  lingering  here  at 
Jennie's — in  the  hope  of  getting  more  data.  After 
another  cocktail  or  two  Jennie  would  not  know 
what  she  was  saying.  Then  he  would  begin  to  hint, 
to  ask  questions.  Could  Margery  keep  her  quiet? 
A  single  word  might  give  him  a  clue. 

Merriam  became  conscious  of  a  wish  that  Rock- 
well were  at  hand  to  help.  But  that  wish  instantly 
gave  birth  to  further  fears.  Rockwell  had  said  he 
would  telephone  from  the  hotel  as  soon  as  they 
arrived.  That  message  might  come  any  minute 
now — with  Crockett  there!  Whereabouts  in  the 
flat  was  the  telephone?  He  had  not  noticed  it  any- 
where. He  looked  about  the  bedroom.  But  it  was 
not  there,  of  course. 

Ought  not  that  message  to  have  come  already? 
Surely  they  should  be  at  the  hotel  by  now  unless 
something  had  gone  wrong.  He  suddenly  envis- 
aged all  the  perils  of  discovery,  which  he  had  hith- 
erto been  too  much  occupied  to  realise,  involved  in 
the  transportation  of  the  sick  Senator  across  the 
roof — down  through  the  other  trapdoor  into  the 
other  hall — down  three  flights  of  stairs — along 
two  blocks  of  city  street  to  the  taxi.  They 
might  so  easily  have  been  noted  by  some  of 
Thompson's,  or  Crockett's,  watchers,  and  followed 
to  the  hotel.  Then  they  would  be  caught  in- 


230      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

deed — in  the  very  fact.  Verily,  the  paths  of  the 
impostor  are  perilous ! 

Then  Merriam's  mind  was  brought  sharply  back 
from  these  alarming  excursions  to  his  own  scarcely 
less  dangerous  situation.  Crockett  had  for  the 
first  time  volunteered  a  remark.  It  was  just  such 
a  remark  as  Merriam  had  anticipated. 

"  Mce  boy  you  have  in  there." 

His  voice  was  slightly  lowered  but  only  slightly. 
Perhaps  he  did  not  realise  the  perfection  of  the 
acoustic  properties  of  flats. 

"  Very  nice  boy !  "  agreed  Jennie  cordially. 

Merriam  noticed  with  alarm  just  the  faintest 
touch  of  the  effect  of  cocktails  in  her  accent.  How 
many  had  the  girl  had  by  now? 

"  So  you  met  him  at  Reiberg's,  did  you?  "  Crock- 
ett pursued. 

"Reiberg's?"  said  Jennie  doubtfully,  "Rei- 
berg's? " 

"  Yes,"  Margery  cut  in.  "  Picked  him  up  there 
and  brought  him  home.  I  call  it  a  shame.  Jen's 
never  done  that  sort  of  thing  before." 

"  I  expect  you  took  to  him  because  he  looks  so 
much  like  Senator  Norman,"  suggested  Crockett, 
rather  skillfully  persistent. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jennie,  "  looks  very  like  George. 
But  he's  not  George.  He's  John ! " 

"  John  what?  "  asked  Crockett  mildly. 

"  John  Blank ! "  said  Margery  sharply.  "  He 
told  you  he  didn't  want  to  give  his  name.  Jen, 
keep  your  face  shut ! " 


EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY        231 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I'm  sure,"  said  Crockett. 

"  Have  a  cocktail  now ! "  said  Jennie,  quite  un- 
abashed. 

Crockett  at  last  agreed  to  a  cocktail,  and  it  was 
fixed  for  him,  and  the  conversation,  if  such  it  could 
be  called,  again  concerned  itself  with  incidents  to 
the  consumption  of  food  and  drink. 

Thank  God  for  Margery !  She  had  won  the  first 
trick.  But  Crockett  would  try  again.  And  Jennie 
would  grow  more  and  more  difficult  to  handle. 
Aside  from  the  danger,  Merriam  hated  to  think  of 
Jennie's  getting  really  drunk.  Could  not  Margery 
get  rid  of  the  man?  The  trouble  was  he  had 
stayed  at  Jennie's  invitation.  Could  not  he,  Mer- 
riam, do  something? 

He  felt  under  the  bedclothes  until  he  found  the 
revolver.  He  drew  it  out  and  looked  at  it.  But 
of  what  use  was  it,  really?  Would  Crockett  blench 
at  the  mere  pointing  of  a  pistol?  He  doubted  it. 
It  was  loaded  only  with  blanks,  Jennie  had  said. 
And  he  dared  not  fire  it  anyway.  The  occupants 
of  a  dozen  adjoining  flats  would  hear  the  report. 
People  would  come  bursting  in.  The  police  would 
be  called.  Well,  was  not  that  the  solution?  To 
have  Crockett  caught  in  that  flat  by  the  police  in 
connection  with  a  shooting?  Perhaps,  but  not  a 
nice  one  for  himself.  Not  to  be  tried  except  as  the 
very  last  resort.  Besides,  would  it  serve  their  pur- 
pose? A  public  exposure  of  Crockett  would  do  no 
good.  What  they  needed  was  a  threat  of  possible 
exposure  to  hold  over  him — not  the  exposure  itself* 


232      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

If  only  Jennie  could  succeed  in  her  purpose  of 
enticing  him  into  some  display  of  amorousness,  of 
which  he  and  Margery  might  be  witnesses.  It 
would  be  pleasant  to  "  have  the  goods  on  him,"  to 
use  Jennie's  phrase.  Why  did  she  not  dance  for 
him?  But  Crockett  would  not  be  enticed.  He 
might,  however,  pretend  to  be.  He  might  decide  to 
"  play  up  "  in  that  way  if  through  Margery's  watch- 
fulness he  could  get  nothing  out  of  Jennie  without 
doing  so. 

But  now  there  flashed  into  Merriam's  mind  a 
doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  Jennie's  scheme  even  if  they 
should  succeed  in  carrying  it  out.  Suppose  Crock- 
ett should  catch  hold  of  her  after  her  dance  and  try 
to  kiss  her,  and  she  should  scream,  and  he  should 
rush  out  with  his  revolver,  and  Crockett  should  be 
intimidated  thereby  into  ignominious  exit?  That 
would  be  very  good  fun,  but  would  it  give  them  any 
hold  over  him  in  case  of  need?  He  could  deny  it. 
Against  his  word  the  only  witnesses  would  be  Jen- 
nie and  Margery,  whose  testimony  would  not  be 
taken  very  seriously,  and  himself — a  nobody  and 
an  impostor.  No  wonder  Margery,  the  clear- 
headed, had  disapproved.  They  ought  to  get  more 
tangible  evidence — something  in  writing,  or  a  pho- 
tograph. 

He  suddenly  remembered  the  camera  on  the  table 
in  the  living  room,  and  recalled  also  a  certain  col- 
lege episode,  a  rather  lurid  incident  of  his  frater- 
nity days,  in  which  a  camera  and  a  girl  and  a  prig- 
gish freshman  had  figured.  It  suggested  to  him  a 


AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY        233 

decidedly  picturesque  and  venturesome  procedure 
against  Crockett.  But  he  shook  his  head.  It  was 
too  violent,  too  rough.  All  very  well  for  a  parcel 
of  boys  with  a  freshman.  But  with  Mr.  Crockett, 
the  mighty  capitalist!  No!  Hardly! 

Just  then  he  heard  Jennie  say : 

"  Get  your  mandolin,  Marge.  I'm  going  to  dance 
now." 

"  Fine !  "  said  Crockett.  But  he  was  still  cool, 
amused. 

Margery  made  no  reply,  but  she  evidently  com- 
plied. In  a  moment  there  came  a  preliminary 
strumming  on  the  mandolin. 

"  Help  me  up,  Harry,"  said  Jennie. 

"With  pleasure,"  said  "Harry." 

He  was  helping  her  to  mount  on  to  the  table. 

"  Move  that  siphon  off,"  Jennie  said.  "  I  might 
kick  it  over." 

There  was  gay  excitement  in  her  voice.  Cock- 
tails had  made  her  indifferent  to  appreciation.  As 
for  Merriam,  the  conscience  of  a  realist  compels  me 
to  report  a  sense  of  disappointment :  he  wanted  to 
see  the  dance. 

"  Now  sit  down  again,"  cried  Jennie.  "  You  can 
see  better." 

At  this  frankness  Crockett  laughed.  There  was 
the  sound  of  his  dropping  into  a  chair. 

"  Now,  Marge !  "  Jennie  commanded. 

But  Margery  did  not  strike  into  her  tune  and  the 
dance  did  not  begin,  for  at  that  instant  the  tele- 
phone rang. 


234      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

It  was  in  the  dining  room,  then ! 

There  was  a  quick  movement  of  chairs  and  feet. 
Then  Crockett's  voice  said,  "  Hello ! " 

He  was  answering  it ! 

"  That's  not  fair ! "  cried  Margery.  "  It's  not  for 
you ! " 

"  Keep  off ! "  said  Crockett  in  a  quick,  stern 
whisper,  and  then,  evidently  into  the  telephone, 
"Yes!  Yes!" 

Merriam  leapt  out  of  bed,  revolver  in  hand,  in  his 
pajamas  and  flung  open  the  door. 

Crockett  was  standing  by  the  wall  at  the  tele- 
phone. Jennie,  in  her  ballet  costume,  stood  trans- 
fixed in  the  center  of  the  table.  Margery  was  rush- 
ing at  Crockett. 

"  You — you  spy !  "  she  screamed. 

Merriam,  in  the  door,  pointed  his  revolver. 

"  Drop  it !  "  he  cried,  meaning  the  telephone  re- 
ceiver. "  Hands  up ! " 

But  Crockett,  catching  Margery  by  the  shoulder 
with  his  free  hand,  held  her  powerfully  at  arm's 
length  and  only  smiled  at  Merriam's  revolver. 

"  Why?  "  he  asked  into  the  telephone,  and  added 
quickly,  "  Nothing !  These  girls  are  romping  so !  " 

But  his  words  could  hardly  be  heard  for  Mar- 
gery's screaming.  He  dropped  the  receiver  and 
put  the  hand  thus  freed  over  the  mouthpiece. 

"  Shut  up ! "  he  said  fiercely  to  Margery,  and 
gave  her  shoulder  a  violent  wrench. 

"  O — oh ! "  she  groaned. 

Something  had  to  be  done  instantly,  for  Crockett 


AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY        235 

was  turning  back  to  the  telephone.  With  a  sort  of 
impulsive  desperation  Merriani  threw  the  revolver 
at  Crockett's  head.  The  man  dodged,  and  the  re- 
volver struck  the  opposite  wall  and  fell  to  the  floor. 
But  the  movement  took  him  away  from  the  tele- 
phone, and  Merriam,  rushing  forward,  added  the 
impetus  of  a  straight-arm  thrust,  which  sent  him 
staggering  against  the  table. 

Then  Merriam  caught  up  the  receiver. 

"  Hello !    Hello !  "  he  cried  into  the  mouthpiece. 

For  an  instant  no  reply.  Then  Central's  voice 
said  sweetly : 

"Your  party's  hung  up."  And  added,  in  tones 
of  unwonted  interest:  "What's  the  row  there? 
Shall  I  send  the  police?  " 

"  No,  no !  "  said  Merriani.  "  There's  nothing 
wrong  here." 

He  hung  up  and  turned  to  face  the  room. 

Crockett  was  still  leaning  against  the  table. 
Margery  was  clutching  the  arm  which  a  moment 
before  had  gripped  her,  and  Jennie  had  jumped 
down  from  the  table  and  caught  hold  of  his  other 
arm.  But  the  financier  appeared  very  little  ruf- 
fled. He  even  smiled  at  Merriam,  not  unpleas- 
antly. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Merriam,"  he  said,  "  suppose  we  sit 
down  and  talk  it  over — if  these  ladies  will  release 
me,  that  is." 

"  Mr.  Merriam ! "  Then  the  message  had  been 
from  Rockwell,  and  Crockett  had  got  the  name 
after  all.  How  much  more  had  he  learned?  Mer- 


23G      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

riam  was  quite  willing  to  talk  in  the  hope  of  finding 
that  out. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said.  "  Let  him  go,  Margery, — 
Jennie." 

"  I'll  dance  for  both  of  you !  "  cried  Jennie,  whose 
cheeks  were  decidedly  flushed. 

"  No !  "  said  Merriam.     "  Sit  down,  please." 

"  Sit  down,  Jen !  "  seconded  Margery,  viciously. 

"  Oh,  well !  "  Jennie  plopped  petulantly  into  a 
chair. 

The  others  sat,  Merriam  and  Crockett  across 
from  each  other.  The  financier  looked  steadily  at 
the  younger  man. 

"  Miss  Milton  was  right,"  he  began  quietly. 
"  The  message  was  not  for  me.  It  was  for  you,  Mr. 
Merriam.  I  think  I  ought  to  give  it  to  you." 

"  If  you  please,"  said  Merriam. 

"  It  was  that  you  should  l  come  at  once  to  the 
hotel.' " 

Merriam  managed  not  to  blink. 

"What  hotel?"  he  asked. 

For  an  instant  Crockett  weighed  his  answer. 
Then: 

"  The  De  Soto,"  he  said. 

But  Merriam  had  read  the  meaning  of  the  mo- 
mentary pause :  Rockwell  had  not  named  the  hotel 
— he  wouldn't,  of  course — Crockett  was  guessing. 

"  De  Soto?  "  he  asked,  looking  as  puzzled  as  he 
could.  "I  thought  it  might  be  from  the  Nestor 
House."  (He  was  using  the  first  name  that  popped 
into  his  head.) 


AN  EVENTFUL  SUPPER  PARTY        237 

"Oh,"  said  Crockett  lightly,  "Mr.  Rockwell 
would  be  much  more  likely  to  telephone  from  the 
De  Soto." 

Merriam  was  startled,  but  he  could  only  go  on  as 
he  had  begun. 

"  Rockwell?  "  he  echoed,  as  if  still  further  mysti- 
fied. 

"  Come,  come,"  said  Crockett,  "  I  recognised  his 
voice.  I  know  it  perfectly." 

"  No  friend  of  mine,"  Merriam  persisted.  There 
might  be  no  advantage  in  continued  denial,  but  cer- 
tainly there  could  be  none  in  admission. 

"  Really,  Mr.  Merriam,  hadn't  you  better  tell  me 
the  whole  story?  You'll  not  find  me  ungenerous. 
I'll  let  you  down  easy." 

"  The  whole  story?  "  said  Merriam.  "  Thought 
I  told  you  my  whole  story  in  the  bedroom  a  while 
back.  What  more  do  you  want?  " 

Crockett  shrugged  his  shoulders.  He  smiled 
blandly : 

"What  I  want  is  another  cocktail,  I  guess. 
You'll  join  me,  Mr.  Merriam?  You've  had  nothing 
all  evening.  It  must  have  been  dull  for  you,  lying 
in  there,  while  these  pretty  ladies  have  been  enter- 
taining me  so  charmingly.  I  understood  you  were 
sick,  you  know,"  he  added  slyly,  "  or  I  should  have 
insisted  on  your  coming  out  long  ago."  Then, 
quickly,  so  as  to  give  Merriam  no  chance  to  reply : 
"Jennie,  my  dear,  let's  have  your  pretty  dance 
now.  We  were  interrupted." 

"  No,"  said  Jennie,  rather  sleepily,  "  I'm  tired." 


238      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"Have  a  cocktail,"  said  Crockett  promptly. 
"  Then  you'll  be  all  right  again." 

Jennie  looked  up  with  interest.  "Well,"  she 
said. 

Crockett  rose  to  mix  the  drinks. 

"  You'll  have  one,  too,  Mr.  Merriam?  " 

But  during  the  brief  interchange  between  Crock- 
ett and  Jennie,  Merriam  had  been  doing  some  quick 
thinking — wild  thinking,  perhaps.  The  plan  sug- 
gested by  his  college  memory,  which  before  he  had 
rejected  as  too  violent,  his  mind  now  seized  upon 
and  was  eagerly  shaping  to  the  present  situation. 

When  Crockett  addressed  him,  he  rose. 

"  No,"  he  said.  "  I'm  tired  too.  I  am  sick." 
He  simulated  a  slight  dizziness.  "  I'll  go  lie  down 
again.  If  you'll  excuse  me." 

He  moved  to  the  bedroom  door,  affecting  uncer- 
tainty in  his  steps.  As  he  passed  into  the  bedroom 
he  called :  "  Margery !  " 


CHAPTER  XXI 

FLASH  LIGHTS 

IN  a  moment  Margery  had  followed  Mm. 
"  Shut  the   door."    He   barely   formed   the 
words  with  his  lips. 

She  obeyed. 

"  That  camera — in  the  sitting  room,"  he  whis- 
pered. "  Can  you  take  a  flash  light  with  it?  " 

"  Sure,"  came  the  whispered  answer.  "  That's 
what  we  use  it  for." 

"  Have  you  any  rope?  " 

"  Rope?  "  echoed  Margery's  whisper.  "  There's 
a  clothesline  on  the  back  porch." 

"  Bring  it  to  me !  " 

Margery  looked  at  him.  But  a  high  degree  of 
mutual  confidence  had  been  established  between 
these  two.  She  nodded. 

"  Right  away?  " 

"  Yes.    He  mustn't  see  it." 

"No." 

She  opened  the  door  and  closed  it  behind  her. 
Merriam  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  thinking  hard. 

"  He  wants  a  drink  of  water,"  he  heard  her  say  to 
the  others  in  the  dining  room. 

With  one  ear,  so  to  speak — that  is  to  say,  with 
so  much  of  his  mind  as  could  attend  to  one  ear, — 

239 


240      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

he  listened  to  Crockett  and  Jennie,  engaged  still  in 
the  business  of  mixing  drinks.  With  the  rest  of 
his  mind  he  was  making  plans,  with  a  rapidity  and 
confident  daring  that  astonished  himself. 

In  a  moment  Margery  had  returned.  In  her 
right  hand  she  carried  a  glass  of  water.  Her  left 
hand,  hanging  at  her  side,  seemed  to  hold  carelessly 
only  a  newspaper,  folded  in  two.  But  as  soon  as 
she  had  closed  the  door  she  produced  from  between 
the  folds  a  fairly  stout  clothesline,  loosely  coiled. 

Merriam  tried  its  toughness  and  surveyed  its 
length. 

"All  right,"  he  whispered.  "Now  go  back. 
Drink  with  them.  Jennie  must  dance.  And  have 
Crockett  sit  where  he  was  before." 

This  was  at  the  end  of  the  table  nearest  the  tele- 
phone and  nearest  also  to  Merriam's  door. 

Again  Margery  looked  at  him.  She  glanced  at 
the  rope.  But  she  asked  no  questions.  Without  a 
word  she  went  out  and  closed  the  door  behind  her. 
Admirable  girl ! 

Merriam's  next  actions  were  rather  remarkable. 
He  felt  hastily  in  the  pockets  of  his  trousers,  which 
lay  over  a  chair,  and  produced  a  penknife.  With 
this  instrument  he  cut  off  four  pieces  of  rope,  each 
about  four  feet  long.  This  left  about  ten  feet  in 
the  main  piece.  With  this  main  piece  he  proceeded 
to  manufacture  a  slip  noose,  carefully  testing  both 
the  strength  of  the  slipknot  and  the  readiness  of  its 
slipping.  Then  he  gathered  the  noose  and  the  four 
other  pieces  of  rope  into  his  left  hand  and  rose  and 


FLASH  LIGHTS  241 

stood  before  the  door,  drawing  a  deep  breath  and 
listening. 

He  had,  of  course,  kept  track  more  or  less  of  the 
happenings  in  the  other  room.  Margery,  on  re- 
turning, had  demanded  another  glass  of  beer  and 
had  yielded  to  insistence  that  she  have  a  cocktail 
instead.  Then  she  had  suggested  that  Jennie 
dance.  Jennie  had  already  been  assisted  on  to  the 
table  again,  and  Margery  was  picking  tentatively 
at  her  mandolin. 

"  B-ready !  "  cried  Jennie,  a  little  unsteadily. 

Merriam  stepped  back  and  turned  the  button  of 
his  electric  bulb,  so  as  to  have  no  light  behind  him. 

Then,  as  Margery  struck  into  a  bright  quick 
tune,  he  softly  opened  the  door  with  his  right  hand, 
holding  his  left  hand  with  the  ropes  behind  him, 
and  stood  looking  at  Jennie,  whose  pink  toes  had 
begun  to  patter  merrily  on  the  polished  table. 

Jennie  saw  him  and  laughed  to  him,  her  eyes  and 
her  cheeks  bright. 

"  Come  in,  Johnny,"  she  cried,  and  for  a  second 
one  pink  leg  pointed  straight  at  him  as  she  turned. 

"  Couldn't  resist,  eh?  "  chuckled  Crockett,  who 
was  leaning  back  in  the  heavy  chair  Merriam  had 
wished  him  to  occupy.  He  was  apparently  really 
pleased  for  the  first  time.  "  Don't  blame  you,"  he 
added.  "  Come  on  in." 

His  eyes,  quite  unsuspicious,  returned  to  the  cir- 
cling skirts  and  the  flushed  face  bobbing  above 
them. 

This  was  Merriam's  moment. 


242      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

He  stepped  quickly  behind  Crockett's  chair, 
dropped  the  short  pieces  of  rope  on  the  floor,  raised 
the  noose  with  both  hands,  slipped  it  over  the  man's 
head,  and  pulled  it  suddenly  tight  about  his  neck. 

Crockett  emitted  a  strangled  oath  and  started  to 
rise,  but  Merriam  with  one  hand  on  his  shoulder 
thrust  him  down  again,  and  with  the  other  tight- 
ened the  noose  about  his  throat. 

"  Sit  still,"  he  threatened,  "  or  I'll  choke  you! " 

Margery's  tune  had  stopped  abruptly,  and  Jennie 
stood  still  on  the  table,  staring  down  in  frightened 
bewilderment. 

"  Margery !  "  Merriam  commanded,  "  take  one  of 
these  pieces  of  rope  and  tie  his  arm  to  the  arm  of 
the  chair." 

The  arm  referred  to  was  immediately  raised 
away  from  the  chair,  but  the  noose  tightened  with 
a  further  jerk,  and  the  arm  fell  limply  back.  In 
fact  Crockett  was  gasping  and  choking  so  desper- 
ately that  Merriam  was  compelled  to  loosen  the 
rope  a  little. 

"  Take  it  quietly,"  he  cautioned,  with  perhaps  a 
trifle  more  of  youthful  ferocity  and  exultation  than 
the  romantic  hero  should  exhibit,  "  or  I'll  hang  you 
sitting  down ! " 

Margery,  obedient  as  usual,  had  stepped  quickly 
forward,  picked  up  a  piece  of  rope,  and  begun  to 
bind  the  arm  nearest  her  to  the  chair. 

Crockett,  somewhat  eased,  though  still  gasping  a 
little,  turned  his  head  to  look  at  Merriam.  His 
first  involuntary  startled  alarm  was  passing.  The 


FLASH  LIGHTS  243 

blue  eyes  looked  steadily  at  the  young  man.  A 
trace  of  their  earlier  cool  amusement  returned.  He 
looked  away  again  and  sat  perfectly  still,  acquies- 
cent. 

Merriam,  however,  remained  warily  at  his  post 
in  charge  of  the  slip  noose  while  Margery  tied  both 
arms. 

"  Now  tie  his  feet  to  the  legs  of  the  chair,"  said 
Merriam.  "  Jennie,  you  can  help.  Jump  down 
and  tie  his  right  foot  while  Margery  ties  the 
left." 

But  Jennie,  still  on  the  table,  shook  her  pretty 
head. 

"  I'd  rather  dance,"  she  said,  and  regardless  of 
the  lack  of  music  she  folded  her  arms  and  began  to 
do  the  steps  of  the  Highland  Fling. 

"Let  her  alone,"  said  Margery,  who  had  gone 
down  on  her  knees  and  was  at  work  on  the  left  foot. 

Jennie  tossed  her  head  and  quickened  the  tempo 
of  her  dance,  keeping  her  eyes  on  Crockett,  who, 
though  still  swallowing  with  difficulty,  affected  to 
regard  her  with  interest. 

Margery  crossed  to  Crockett's  other  side  and 
knelt  again.  In  a  moment  she  completed  her  la- 
bours and  rose,  her  cheeks  a  little  reddened  by  her 
posture  and  vigorous  work. 

"  There ! "  she  said,  looking  straight  at  Merriam, 
as  if  she  were  a  soldier  reporting  to  his  officer. 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  the  young  man. 

He  loosened  the  noose,  leaving  it  still  in  place, 
however,  about  Crockett's  neck.  Then  he  stepped 


244      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

to  the  side  of  the  table  and  held  out  his  arms  to 
Jennie. 

"  Come !  "  he  said,  "  I'll  lift  you  down." 

She  stood  still.  "  You  don't  like  my  dancing," 
she  pouted.  "  He  likes  it !  "  She  pointed  at  Crock- 
ett, who,  twisting  his  eased  neck  about,  smiled. 

"  I'll  like  lifting  you  down,"  said  Merriam. 

Jennie  smiled  and  approached  the  edge  of  the 
table.  For  a  moment  he  held  a  rosy,  fragrant  bur- 
den in  his  arms,  and  in  that  moment  Jennie  raised 
her  face  to  his  as  if  to  be  kissed.  She  was  really 
rather  incorrigible. 

On  a  different  occasion  the  young  man  might 
have  been  irresistibly  tempted  (he  had  not  thought 
of  Mollie  June  for  a  long  time),  but  just  now  he 
was  no  more  in  a  mood  to  be  enticed  than  Crockett 
had  been  an  hour  before. 

He  set  her  lightly  and  quickly  on  her  feet. 

"  There !  "  he  said. 

She  made  a  face  at  him  and  dropped  petulantly 
into  a  chair. 

Merriam  turned  to  face  his  well-trussed  victim. 

The  said  victim  was  now  sufficiently  at  ease  to 
open  the  conversation. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Merriam,"  he  said,  "  you've  managed 
it  rather  cleverly.  Very  neat,  in  fact.  You  have 
me  a  prisoner  all  right.  But  what's  the  big  idea? 
It  seems  to  me  you've  only  given  yourself  away. 
Before  I  only  knew  your  name  and  that  you  were 
in  connection  with  Rockwell  and  that  your  pres- 
ence was  desired  at  some  hotel — the  Nestor  House, 


FLASH  LIGHTS  245 

we'll  say,  to  avoid  argument.  Now  it's  very  clear 
that  you  are  deeply  implicated  in  the  extraordinary 
events  that  have  been  happening.  Otherwise  you 
would  have  had  no  sufficient  motive  for  this  rather 
violent,  not  to  say  melodramatic,  line  of  conduct." 
He  glanced,  with  a  smile,  at  his  pinioned  arms. 

This  point  of  view,  however,  had  already  oc- 
curred to  Merriam ;  and  the  answer  was  that  Crock- 
ett, knowing  already  of  a  direct,  confidential  con- 
nection between  Senator  Norman's  double  and  Sen- 
ator Norman's  new  manager,  would  in  a  few  hours 
at  most  be  able  to  work  out  the  whole  truth  of  the 
situation. 

So  he  only  answered  his  victim's  smile  with  an- 
other smile  equally  good-humoured. 

"  I  don't  think  I've  given  away  anything  much," 
he  said.  "  And  I  felt  it  was  time  to  take  out  a  bit 
of  insurance." 

"  Insurance?  "  repeated  Crockett. 

"  Yes.  Insurance  that  you  will  treat  me  with 
that  generosity  which  you  half  promised  a  while 
ago." 

"  I  promised  nothing !  "  said  Crockett,  the  smile 
fading  out  of  his  eyes.  "  I  refuse  to  give  any  prom- 
ise whatever." 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  Merriam,  still  good- 
humouredly.  "  In  fact,  I  shouldn't  count  much  on 
promises  anyway. 

"You're  married,  I  believe?"  he  continued  to 
Crockett. 

Crockett  did  not  reply. 


246      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"And  a  church  member,  I  presume?  And  a 
member  of  a  number  of  highly  respectable  clubs?  " 

He  paused  and  waited,  smiling. 

The  smile  was  too  much  for  Crockett.  After  a 
moment  of  holding  in,  he  said  sharply: 

"  Well?  " 

"  Well,  a  gentleman  who  is  all  those  things  ought 
to  be  careful  how  he  accepts  entertainment  from 
unattached  young  ladies,  like  our  pretty  Jennie 
here — in  their  flats  at  midnight."  And  then  to 
Margery,  "  Go  and  get  your  camera  ready. 

"When  I  was  in  college,"  Merriam  continued, 
"  the  fraternity  I  belonged  to  initiated  a  freshman 
who  turned  out  to  be  goody-goody.  He  wouldn't 
play  cards,  wouldn't  dance,  wouldn't  go  to  the  the- 
ater, wouldn't  smoke.  Even  refused  coffee  and  tea. 
Above  all  he  simply  wouldn't  look  at  a  girl.  All 
he  would  do  was  study  and  go  to  class — and  to 
church  and  Sunday  School.  To  make  it  worse  he 
was  a  handsome  cuss  with  loads  of  money  and  his 
own  motor  car.  He  got  on  the  fellows'  nerves. 
Then  a  show  came  to  town  with  a  girl  in  the  chorus 
that  two  of  the  fellows  knew.  So  a  bunch  of  us 
went  to  the  show,  and  afterwards  the  two  fellows 
who  knew  the  girl  brought  her  back  to  the  chapter 
house  in  a  taxi,  with  an  opera  cloak  over  the  black 
tights  which  she  wore  in  the  last  act.  We  gave  her 
a  little  supper,  and  then  four  of  us  went  upstairs 
to  get  the  good  little  boy.  He  hadn't  gone  to  the 
show.  He  was  studying  his  trigonometry.  We 
didn't  have  to  lasso  him,  of  course,  because  there 


FLASH  LIGHTS  247 

were  four  of  us.  When  we  brought  him  into  the 
dining  room,  the  girl  stood  up  and  dropped  off  her 
cloak.  It  was  worth  something  to  see  his  face. 
Then  we  tied  him  into  a  chair,  just  the  same  way 
you're  tied  now.  We  set  a  beer  bottle  and  half- 
emptied  glass  handy,  and  the  girl  sat  on  his  knees 
and  cocked  one  black  leg  over  the  arm  of  the  chair 
and  put  one  hand  under  his  chin  and  put  her  lips  to 
his  cheek.  And  then  we  took  the  flash.", 

"  Oh,  goody ! "  cried  Jennie,  ecstatically  pleased 
by  this  climax.  But  Crockett  by  this  time  was 
staring  at  the  story-teller  with  really  venomous 
eyes. 

Merriam  avoided  those  eyes  and  addressed  him- 
self to  Jennie,  the  appreciative. 

"  That  was  all,"  he  said.  "  We  gave  the  girl  a 
twenty-dollar  bill  and  the  roses  and  sent  her  back 
to  the  hotel  in  the  taxi.  We  could  only  show  the 
picture  to  a  few  chaps,  of  course.  One  of  the  fel- 
lows did  finally  tell  the  story  to  one  girl  whom  a 
lot  of  us  knew  and  showed  her  the  picture.  It 
worked  fine.  The  good  little  boy's  reputation  was 
made,  and  he  had  to  live  up  to  it,  to  the  extent  at 
least  of  becoming  human.  He  became  one  of  the 
finest  fellows  we  ever  had.  The  year  after  he  grad- 
uated," Merriam  finished  reflectively,  "  he  married 
the  one  girl  who  had  seen  the  picture,  and  the  chap- 
ter gave  it  to  her  with  their  wedding  present." 

During  this  sequel  Marge<y  had  returned  with: 
the  camera  and  with  some  flash-light  powder, 
which  she  had  had  to  search,  in  a  dust  pan. 


248      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Damn  you ! "  cried  the  great  financier  viru- 
lently, straining  helplessly  at  the  ropes  which  con- 
fined his  arms  and  legs.  "  If  you  think  it  will  do 
you  any  good  to  take  an  indecent  picture  of 
me " 

"  Cut  that !  "  said  Merriam  sharply.  "  Do  you 
want  me  to  tighten  that  noose  again?  " 

Crockett  subsided  with  a  snort  that  might  have 
made  whole  boards  of  directors  tremble. 

"  Indecent ! "  said  Merriam,  enjoying  himself 
hugely,  as  if  he  were  still  in  college.  "  Certainly 
not!  Only  pretty.  Very  pretty.  Come,  Jennie! 
How  about  the  pose?  " 

"  I'll  show  you !  "  cried  Jennie.  Half  dancing 
on  her  toes,  with  skirts  fluttering,  and  eyes  spark- 
ling the  more,  it  seemed,  because  of  Crockett's  bit- 
terly hostile  regard,  she  tripped  around  the  table 
and  stood  by  his  side,  facing  the  same  way  he  faced. 
She  plucked  the  rose  from  her  hair  and  stuck  it  be- 
hind Crockett's  ear.  It  drooped  grotesquely  over 
his  thin  hair.  Then,  laughing  at  the  rose,  she  put 
one  bare  arm  about  his  neck,  her  hand  extending 
beyond  his  face  on  the  other  side. 

"  Give  me  a  cocktail  glass  in  that  hand ! "  she 
cried.  "  Never  mind  what's  in  it.  Anything !  " 

Merriam  filled  a  glass  from  the  siphon  and  put  it 
into  the  hand  referred  to. 

Then  Jennie  raised  a  pink  leg  and  put  it  on  the 
table,  stretching  straight  in  front  of  herself  and 
Crockett  towards  the  center  of  the  board,  amid  the 
plates  and  glasses  and  crumpled  napkins.  She  put 


FLASH  LIGHTS  249 

her  other  hand  under  Crockett's  chin  as  if  about  to 
tickle  him,  dropped  her  face  close  to  his,  and  looked 
at  Merriam  with  eyes  of  laughing  inquiry. 

"  Fine !  "  said  Merriam.  "Are  you  ready,  Mar- 
gery? " 

Margery  was  already  pointing  the  camera. 

"  Not  yet,"  she  said. 

He  addressed  himself  to  the  victim : 

"  Mr.  Crockett,  you  can,  of  course,  wink  or  twist 
your  face  to  spoil  the  picture.  If  you  do,  111  sim- 
ply have  to  choke  you  a  little  before  we  try  again. 
So  you'd  better  look  pleasant !  " 

"  Ready !  "  said  Margery. 

Merriam  set  the  dust  pan,  with  the  little  heap  of 
powder  in  the  center  of  it,  on  a  plate  on  the  side- 
board beside  Margery,  lit  a  match,  and,  with  a  last 
glance  at  Jennie's  extraordinary  pose  and  laughing 
face,  switched  off  the  lights  and  touched  the 
powder. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  flash  Men-lam 
switched  on  the  lights,  and  his  eyes  sought 
Crockett.  Apparently  the  man  had  faced  the  cam- 
era stolidly — a  grotesque  figure  surmounted  by  the 
dangling  flower  and  enveloped  as  it  were  in  Jen- 
nie's acrobatic  pose. 

"All  right ! "  said  Merriam,  coughing  in  the 
smoke  which  filled  the  small  room.  "  But  we'll 
take  one  more.  You  never  can  be  sure  of  a  single 
film.  Got  some  more  powder,  Margery?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Margery,  who  had  set  the  camera 
down  and  stepped  aside  to  open  a  window.  She 
passed  into  the  sitting  room. 

Jennie  gingerly  removed  her  leg  from  the  table 
and  her  arm  from  about  Crockett's  neck.  In  the 
latter  process  she  spilled  a  little  of  the  water  from 
the  cocktail  glass — unintentionally,  let  us  hope — 
on  Crockett's  head. 

"Damn!" 

Jennie,  quite  regardless,  eased  herself  on  her  two 
legs  again. 

"  Gee !  "  she  said.  "  I  couldn't  have  held  that 
pose  much  longer.  In  another  second  I'd  have 
split  at  the  waist!" 

250 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  251 

Merriam  laughed.  "  Look  what  you've  done," 
he  said. 

Jennie  caught  up  a  napkin  and  mopped  the  face 
and  head. 

"  Sorry ! "  she  cried  sympathetically.  "  I  didn't 
mean  to  wet  him !  There ! "  and  she  dropped  a 
light  kiss  on  the  cleansed  cheek  and  smiled  her 
rosiest  smile  at  the  trussed  victim. 

Crockett  answered  Jennie's  smile  with  a  glare 
that  might  have  caused  a  panic  on  the  Stock  Ex- 
change. 

It  had  no  very  serious  effect,  however,  on  Jennie. 
She  shrugged  her  pretty  shoulders  and  daintily 
chucked  him  under  the  chin. 

"  That  isn't  a  nice  look !  "  she  said. 

At  this  point  Margery  returned  with  a  package 
of  flash-light  powder  and  began  to  pour  a  second 
little  pile  on  the  dust  pan. 

"  Take  your  pose !  "  said  Merriam  to  Jennie. 

"Not  that  one,"  said  Jennie.  "It's  too  hard. 
Look!" 

She  picked  the  rose  from  above  Crockett's  ear 
and  stepped  behind  his  chair.  Then  she  stooped 
till  her  chin  rested  on  the  top  of  his  head  and  let 
her  two  bare  arms  drop  past  his  cheeks  till  her 
hands  came  together  on  his  shirt  front.  In  her 
hands  she  held  the  rose  pointing  upward  so  that  the 
blossom  was  just  below  his  chin. 

The  effect  was  distinctly  comical — Crockett's 
dour  countenance,  with  its  angry  eyes,  framed 
above  by  Jennie's  pretty  laughing  face,  resting  on 


252      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

the  very  top  of  his  head,  at  the  sides  by  her  round 
white  arms,  and  below  by  the  rose  under  his  chin. 

"  Fine !  "  Merriam  laughed.  "  It's  better  than 
the  other.  Ready,  Margery?  " 

"  Yes." 

A  second  time  he  switched  off  the  lights  and 
touched  a  match  to  the  powder. 

Again  Crockett  had  not  even  blinked  so  far  as 
Merriam  could  judge.  Well  satisfied,  the  latter 
spoke  to  Margery: 

"  Put  that  camera  away,  will  you,  please,  where 
it  could  not  be  easily  found  except  by  yourself." 

Margery  picked  up  the  camera  and  departed  into 
the  kitchenette. 

Then,  "Let  him  alone,  Jennie,"  he  said.  For 
Jennie  had  left  the  back  of  Crockett's  chair  and 
perched  herself  on  the  edge  of  the  table  beside  him 
and  was  flicking  him  under  the  chin  with  the  rose. 

"All  right,"  she  said.  "  He's  no  fun.  He's  very 
cross ! " 

She  slid  off  the  table  and  dropped  into  a  chair, 
transferring  her  attention  to  Merriam,  as  though 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  less  obdurately  dis- 
posed. 

But  Merriam  addressed  himself  to  the  other  man. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Crockett,"  he  said,  "  this  little  supper 
party  and  entertainment  are  over,  I  believe.  If 
you  wish  to  leave,  I  shall  be  glad  to  release  you  and 
permit  you  to  do  so." 

Crockett's  reply  was  a  sound  between  a  grunt 
and  a  growl. 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  253 

Merriam  walked  around  the  table  and  picked  up 
the  revolver  where  it  had  fallen  by  the  wall. 

"  I  don't  believe,"  he  continued,  "  that  it  will  do 
you  any  good  to  start  any  rough-house  when  I  have 
freed  you.  If  you  do,  Jennie  and  Margery  will 
scream,  and  I  shall  fire  this  revolver.  That  will 
bring  in  neighbours  and  probably  the  police,  whose 
testimony  would  thus  be  added  to  that  of  the  pic- 
tures we  have  taken  as  to  your  manner  of  spending 
your  evening.  You  will  understand  that  while  I 
shall  have  those  pictures  developed  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning  I  shall  not  show  them  to  any  one 
except  Mr.  Rockwell  unless  you  compel  me  to 
do  so." 

By  this  time  Crockett  had  become  articulate. 

"  Compel  you  to  do  so? "  he  repeated  stiffly. 
"  May  I  ask  what  you  mean  by  that?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Merriam,  "  you  see  I  am  an  enthusi- 
astic supporter  of  the  Reform  League  as  led  by  Mr. 
Rockwell  and  Senator  Norman  and  Mayor  Black. 
You,  I  understand,  are  opposed  to  the  League  and 
its  policies.  So  long  as  your  opposition  relates  it- 
self only  to  those  policies  and  involves  only  open 
public  discussion  of  their  merits,  I  shall,  of  course, 
have  no  reason  to  interfere.  But  if  your  opposition 
should  take  the  form  of  any  personal  attack,  on 
Senator  Norman,  let  us  say,  I  should  feel  compelled 
to  retaliate  by  a  personal  attack  upon  you,  making 
use  of  these  pictures  we  have  taken  to-night  and  the 
story  that  will  readily  weave  itself  about  them. 
Do  you  see?  " 


254      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  See ! "  Crockett  cried.  "  Of  course  I  see. 
Blackmail!  How  much,  do  you  want  for  that 
camera?  Name  your  price." 

"It  has  no  cash  price,"  returned  Merriam 
steadily.  "Now  if  I  release  you,  will  you  leave 
quietly?  " 

For  a  long  moment  the  financier  stared  at  the 
younger  man  who  had  worsted  him.  Then : 

"At  this  moment,"  he  said  acridly,  "  I  certainly 
have  no  other  desire  than  to  get  away  from  this 
place  and  to  be  rid  of  my  present  companionship." 

Merriam  was  tempted  to  laugh  at  the  stilted  dig- 
nity of  this  phraseology,  but  he  managed  to  keep  a 
straight  face. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said.  "  Margery," — for  Mar- 
gery had  just  returned  from  the  kitchenette  minus 
the  camera, — "  help  me  untie  him,  will  you?  Feet 
first." 

Margery  and  Merriam  knelt  fcr  a  moment  at  the 
two  sides  of  Crockett's  chair  and  released  his  two 
legs.  Then  Merriam  again  put  the  table  between 
himself  and  Crockett  and  stood  waiting,  revolver 
in  hand,  leaving  to  Margery  the  work  of  unbinding 
the  arms.  He  was  afraid  that  his  own  near  pres- 
ence to  Crockett  when  the  latter  found  himself  free 
might  tempt  him  irresistibly  to  personal  assault. 

In  the  moment  during  which  he  stood  waiting  he 
became  conscious  that  Jennie,  half  reclining  in  the 
chair  into  which  she  had  dropped,  was  smiling  at 
him — a  pretty,  confidential  smile  which  he  did  not 
understand. 


VIKTUE  TRIUMPHANT  255 

But  he  had  no  time  to  consider  Jennie  just  then, 
for  Margery  had  completed  her  work.  The  last 
piece  of  rope  fell  on  the  floor,  and  she  lifted  the 
slip  noose  from  about  Crockett's  neck.  He  had  been 
rather  tightly  bound  and  did  not  instantly  have 
the  full  use  of  his  limbs.  Margery  took  his  arm 
to  assist  him. 

"  My  coat  and  hat ! "  he  said,  not  looking  at 
Merriam. 

"  In  the  sitting  room,"  said  Margery. 

He  turned  himself  in  that  direction  and  in  a 
jerky  walk,  with  some  support  from  Margery, 
moved  towards  and  through  the  portieres.  He  had 
disdained  to  cast  so  much  as  a  glance  at  either 
Merriam  or  Jennie. 

Jennie  resented  this.  "  Old  crosspatch ! "  she 
cried. 

Merriam  stepped  hastily  to  the  portieres  and 
peeped  through.  Crockett  had  caught  up  his  light 
overcoat  and  silk  hat  from  a  chair.  He  refused 
Margery's  offer  to  help  him  on  with  his  coat  and 
made,  already  moving  more  naturally,  for  the  hall 
door.  Margery  followed  him.  The  door  opened — 
closed  again.  Margery  returned  from  the  hallway. 

Merriam  advanced  through  the  portieres  into  the 
sitting  room. 

"  Well !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  Well !  "  returned  Margery,  with  a  dry  laugh — 
the  first  laugh  Merriam  had  heard  from  her  during 
the  whole  evening. 

"  See  what  he  does  in  the  street,"  she  added. 


256      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Raise  the  shade  about  a  foot.  I'll  turn  off  the 
light." 

Merriam  acted  promptly  on  this  excellent  hint. 
In  a  moment  the  room  was  in  darkness,  and  he  was 
kneeling  by  the  window  watching  the  street  below, 
which  was  fairly  well  illuminated  from  arc  lights 
at  either  corner.  Part  way  down  the  block  on  the 
other  side  of  the  roadway  a  car,  presumably  a  taxi, 
stood  by  the  curb,  with  a  man  walking  up  and  down 
beside  it.  Jennie's  flat  was  too  high  up  for  Mer- 
riam to  be  able  to  see  the  sidewalk  immediately 
below.  If,  therefore,  Crockett  on  emerging  from 
the  building  merely  walked  away,  he  would  see 
nothing.  But  this  was  hardly  likely. 

Presently,  sure  enough,  the  taxi  showed  sudden 
signs  of  life.  The  man  hastily  got  in,  and  the 
car  rolled  forward,  crossing  the  street  diagonally, 
and  stopped  directly  below  Merriam's  window. 
Crockett  had  come  out  and  signalled  it.  A  moment 
later  it  shot  away  down  the  block  and  turned  the 
corner. 

Merriam  still  knelt  by  the  window,  peering  into 
the  street.  He  was  looking  for  signs  of  any  re- 
maining watchers,  for  he  had  his  own  exit  to  think 
of :  Rockwell  had  wanted  him  to  "  come  at  once  to 
the  hotel." 

As  he  knelt  there  in  the  dark  he  suddenly  sensed 
a  warm  fragrant  body  close  beside  his  own.  A  pair 
of  soft  bare  arms  slipped  about  his  neck. 

"  It  was  fine ! "  Jennie's  voice  whispered  in  his 
ear.  "  You're  a  nice  boy ! " 


VIKTUE  TRIUMPHANT  257 

She  had  crept  up  behind  him  in  the  dark.  Mar- 
gery must  have  left  the  room. 

For  a  moment  Merriam  knelt  in  fascinated  silent 
rigidity.  When  he  moved  it  was  only  to  turn  his 
head.  And  the  turning  of  his  head  brought  his 
face  close  to  Jennie's,  which,  with  the  dim  light 
from  the  street  upon  it,  smiled  at  him  with  a  kind 
of  saucy  tenderness.  It  was  the  face  of  a  pretty 
child,  with  the  lure  of  womanhood  added,  but  with 
nothing  else  of  maturity  in  it. 

Her  lips  puckered.     "  Kiss  me !  "  she  whispered. 

As  he  still  only  stared  she  quickly  leaned  forward 
a  couple  of  inches  more — her  lips  rested  on  his. 

I  am  very  much  afraid  that  for  an  instant  Mer- 
riam's  lips  responded.  He  half  turned  on  one  knee. 
His  arms  involuntarily  closed  about  the  seductive 
little  body.  He  felt  the  short  silk  skirts  crush  de- 
liciously  against  his  legs. 

And  then  a  grotesque  sort  of  composite  picture 
of  all  the  things  he  ought  to  remember,  including 
Rockwell,  Norman,  Mollie  June,  and  the  members 
of  the  Riceville  School  Board,  rushed  across  his 
mind.  He  struggled  to  his  feet,  pushing  Jennie — 
not  roughly — away. 

"  Margery !  "  he  called. 

"  Yes?  "  came  Margery's  voice  from  the  dining 
room. 

"  Turn  on  the  lights ! " 

By  the  time  Margery  had  stepped  through  the 
portieres  and  pushed  the  switch  Jennie  had  thrown 
herself  face  downward  on  the  davenport,  crying. 


258      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Nobody  loves  me ! "  she  sobbed. 

Margery,  standing  by  the  switch,  looked  from 
Merriam  at  the  window  to  Jennie  on  the  couch  and 
back  again.  Her  expression  indicated  no  bewilder- 
ment— rather  a  humorously  cynical  comprehen- 
sion. She  knew  her  Jennie. 

At  any  rate,  that  glance  steadied  the  young  man. 
After  meeting  it  for  a  moment  he  turned  to  Jennie. 
Poor  little  girl!  He  felt  that  he  understood  her 
perfectly.  There  was  a  side  of  himself  that  was 
like  that.  Only  he  had  other  sides  powerfully  de- 
veloped, and  Jennie  had  no  other  sides.  All  his 
young  chivalry  rose  up,  in  alliance  with  the  mis- 
sionary spirit  of  the  teacher.  He  desired  greatly 
to  help  her. 

After  an  instant's  hesitation  he  crossed  the  room 
and  drew  up  a  chair  beside  the  davenport. 

"  Jennie,"  he  said,  "  listen !  " 

"  Go  away !  "  said  Jennie. 

"  I  am  going  away  in  a  minute.  But  I  want  to 
tell  you  something  first." 

Her  sobbing  ceased,  but  he  waited  till  she  asked : 

"  Well,  what?  " 

"  There  is  somebody  who  loves  you." 

Hopefully  Jennie  raised  her  head  and  turned 
her  face  to  him — still  oddly  pretty  in  spite  of  the 
tear-streaked  rouge.  But  after  a  moment's  look 
she  said  resentfully : 

"It  isn't  you!" 

"  No,"  said  Merriam,  "  it  isn't  I." 

Even  at  this  rate  the  discussion  was  apparently 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  259 

interesting  enough,  to  rouse  her.  With  a  sudden 
movement  she  curled  herself  up,  half  sitting,  half 
reclining,  in  a  corner  of  the  davenport,  and 
smoothed  the  crumpled  skirts  over  her  knees. 

"  Do  you  mean  George?  "  she  asked. 

"  No,"  said  Merriam,  "  I  mean  Mr.  Simpson." 

"  Mister  Simpson ! "  She  laughed  derisively, 
not  prettily  at  all.  "A  waiter ! " 

"  Listen,  Jennie.  Simpson  is  a  fine  fellow,  with 
lots  of  brains  and  lots  of  courage.  He  has  shown 
both  within  the  last  twenty-four  hours.  He's  ren- 
dered a  very  important  service  to  Mr.  Rockwell  and 
Senator  Norman,  and  they're  going  to  give  him  a 
lot  of  money  for  a  reward.  I  don't  know  how 
much — maybe  five  thousand  dollars.  And  he's 
crazy  about  you.  He'll  marry  you  in  a  minute  if 
you'll  let  him,  in  spite  of — George.  He'll  take  you 
away  on  a  fine  trip — anywhere  you  want  to  go. 
And  afterwards  he'll  set  up  in  a  business  of  his 
own — a  cafe"  or  whatever  he  likes.  You'll  have  a 
real  home  and  a  husband  and  money  enough  and 
friends.  It'll  be  a  lot  better  than  this  stuff — like 
to-night.  It  really  would.  Think  it  over,  Jennie !  " 

On  the  last  words  he  rose. 

"  He's  right ! "  cried  Margery,  who  had  drawn 
near. 

"  Shut  up,  Marge !  "  said  Jennie. 

But  Merriam,  looking  closely  at  her  with  the 
sharp  eye  of  a  teacher  to  see  whether  or  not  his 
point  had  gone  home,  was  satisfied.  He  was  sure 
that  she  would  think  it  over  in  spite  of  herself. 


260      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

He  looked  at  his  watch.  It  was  ten  minutes 
after  one. 

"  I  must  telephone  at  once  to  Mr.  Eockwell  in 
Senator  Norman's  rooms  at  the  Hotel  De  Soto,"  he 
said  to  Margery. 

"  Yes,"  said  Margery.  "  The  hotel  number  is 
Madison  1-6-8-1." 

"  Thank  you." 

Without  looking  again  at  Jennie,  he  went  to  the 
telephone  in  the  dining  room.  In  a  moment  he  had 
the  hotel  and  had  asked  to  be  connected  with  Sen- 
ator Norman's  rooms.  It  was  Rockwell's  voice 
that  answered,  "  Hello !  " 

"  This  is  Merriam." 

"  Thank  God !    Where  are  you?  " 

"At  Jennie's." 

"  Still?  What  the  devil  was  the  ruction  there 
when  I  called  up?  " 

"  I'll  tell  you  about  that  later.  Do  you  still 
want  me  to  come  to  the  hotel?  " 

"  Certainly.     As  fast  as  you  can." 

"  You  got  the  Senator  back  all  right?  " 

"  Yes.  But  he's  pretty  sick.  Caught  more  cold, 
I  guess.  Hobart's  worried  about  him.  You'll 
have  to  stay  over  another  day  all  right.  And  make 
that  speech." 

Merriam  groaned. 

"Listen!"  said  Eockwell.  "You'll  have  to  be 
mighty  careful  about  getting  into  the  hotel.  You 
aren't  Senator  Norman  just  now,  you  know.  The 
Senator  has  already  returned  to  the  hotel,  openly, 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  261 

with  me,  three  hours  ago,  and  is  sick  in  his  rooms. 
We'll  have  to  smuggle  you  in  without  any  one's 
seeing  you.  But  I  have  a  plan — or  rather  Simp- 
son has.  You'd  better  come  down  on  the  Elevated. 
That'll  be  better  than  a  taxi  this  time.  No  chauf- 
feur to  tell  on  you.  Be  sure  you  get  away  from 
there  without  being  followed.  Margery'll  show 
you  a  way.  Get  off  at  Madison  and  Wabash. 
Simpson  will  meet  you  there  and  smuggle  you  in 
the  back  way.  You  can  come  right  away?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Then  for  Heaven's  sake  come !  We'll  talk  after 
you  get  here."  He  hung  up. 

Merriam  stared  at  the  instrument  as  he  slowly 
replaced  his  own  receiver.  Another  day.  "And 
make  that  speech ! "  Would  this  kaleidoscopic, 
unreal  phantasm  of  adventures  never  end?  When 
would  he  wake  up?  He  perceived  suddenly  that 
he  was  very  tired.  But  he  must  brace  up  suffi- 
ciently to  get  back  to  the  hotel.  There  doubtless 
he  would  be  permitted  to  go  to  bed  and  snatch  at 
least  a  few  hours'  sleep — before  the  speech ! 

He  turned  and  found  Margery  standing  between 
the  portieres,  watching  him. 

"  Well !  "  she  said  sharply. 

"  I  must — must — get  dressed,"  he  finished,  real- 
ising for  the  first  time  since  he  had  leapt  out  of 
bed  with  his  revolver  to  divert  Crockett  from  the 
telephone  that  he  was  attired  only  in  pajamas. 
"  Rockwell  says  you  can  tell  me  a  way  to  get  away 
from  here  without  being  seen  by  any  watchers." 


262      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Yes,"  said  Margery.  "  Go  and  dress.  Til  at- 
tend to  that." 

He  went  into  the  bedroom  and  began  to  get  into 
his  clothes,  working  mechanically. 

Presently  he  was  ready — though  with  such  a 
loose  and  rakish  bow  as  he  had  never  before  dis- 
ported— and  emerged  into  the  dining  room. 

There  he  encountered  a  cheering  spectacle.  Mar- 
gery was  seated  at  the  table  between  a  coffee 
percolator,  efficiently  bubbling,  and  an  electric 
toaster.  She  was  buttering  hot  toast.  Jennie  sat 
at  one  side  of  the  table.  A  pale  blue  kimono  now 
covered  her  dancing  costume,  and  she  looked  quite 
demure.  She  raised  her  eyes  almost  shyly  as  Mer- 
riam  entered. 

"  Well !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  This  is  grand.  Mar- 
gery, you  certainly  are  a  trump !  " 

Margery's  rather  sallow  cheeks  flushed  slightly. 
"  You'll  need  it,"  was  all  she  said,  and  proceeded 
to  fill  a  cup  for  him  from  the  percolator. 

"  How  do  I  get  away?  "  Merriam  asked  as  he 
sipped. 

"  Back  stairs,"  said  Margery  succinctly.  "  I'll 
show  you." 

Munching  toast,  he  enquired  the  whereabouts  of 
the  nearest  Elevated  station  and  was  duly  in- 
structed. 

He  had  a  second  cup  of  the  black  coffee.  Mar- 
gery did  not  take  any  and  would  not  give  Jennie 
any. 

"  We  go  straight  to  bed,"  she  said  decidedly. 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  263 

From  time  to  time  Merriam  cast  an  unwilling 
glance  at  Jennie,  sitting  downcast  and  out  of  it  on 
Margery's  other  side.  About  the  third  time  Jennie 
intercepted  his  glance  and  answered  it  with  a  small 
wistful  smile.  After  that  he  would  not  look  again. 

In  a  few  minutes,  of  course,  this  very  early 
breakfast — it  was  somewhere  around  two  o'clock — 
was  over,  and  Merriam  rose. 

"  I  must  be  off,"  he  said,  and  hesitated.  "  I  am 
very  much  indebted  to  both  of  you  for — all  the  help 
you  have  given  me  this  evening!"  (Inwardly  he 
abused  himself  for  his  stiltedness;  it  was  like  his 
telling  Mollie  June  he  was  glad  to  have  helped  her 
in  algebra.) 

Jennie  rose  too  and  came  around  the  table  to- 
wards him.  She  had  suddenly  summoned  back  a 
smile,  and  she  moved  daintily  inside  the  blue 
kimono.  Above  the  stalk  of  that  straight,  demure, 
Japanesy  blue,  her  head  nodded  like  a  bright  blos- 
som— with  its  fair,  wavy  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  child- 
ishly rounded  cheeks,  still  gaudy  with  the  remains 
of  rouge. 

She  tripped  forward  till  she  was  almost  touching 
Merriam,  stopped,  and  suddenly  raised  her  eyes  to 
him. 

"  Kiss  me  good-bye !  "  she  said. 

We  may  suspect  that  it  was  a  sort  of  point  of 
honour  with  Jennie  to  retrieve  the  rebuff  she  had 
received  in  the  sitting  room.  As  for  Merriam,  in 
spite  of  the  obvious  deliberateness  of  this  assault, 
I  am  not  perfectly  sure  I  could  answer  for  him  if 


264      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

it  had  not  been  for  Margery.  But  Margery's  pres- 
ence saved  him  from  serious  temptation. 

Instead  of  stooping  to  kiss  the  lifted  lips  he 
caught  Jennie's  hand  that  hung  at  her  side,  and, 
stepping  back  half  a  step,  raised  the  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

Sometimes  the  inspirations  of  youth  are  singu- 
larly happy.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  one  was  of 
that  kind:  it  involved  neither  yielding  nor  dis- 
courtesy. 

Jennie  was  somewhat  taken  aback,  yet  she  could 
not  be  hurt  by  a  gesture  so  gallant. 

"  Good-bye,  Jennie,"  he  said.  "  I  hope  to  be  the 
best  man  at  your  wedding  before  long." 

"  Oh !  "  she  said,  and  withdrew  her  hand.  Then : 
"Good-bye!" 

After  a  moment's  hesitation  and  a  last  quite  shy 
glance  at  Merriam  she  suddenly  gathered  up  the 
skirts  of  the  kimono  and  ran  into  the  sitting  room. 

"Are  you  ready?  "  said  Margery  dryly. 

"  My  coat.  I  haven't  a  hat,"  he  added,  remem- 
bering that  under  Rockwell's  instructions  he  had 
left  this  article  in  the  taxi  in  which  they  had  come 
to  the  flat. 

"Your  coat's  in  the  hall,"  said  Margery.  "I 
can  get  you  a  hat  too." 

The  dining  room  was  connected  directly  with 
the  hallway,  and  in  a ,  moment  Margery  had  re- 
turned with  Merriam's  light  overcoat  and  with  a 
man's  derby — probably  Norman's  property. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam,  taking  them. 


VIRTUE  TRIUMPHANT  265 

"This  way,"  she  replied,  moving  towards  the 
kitchenette. 

In  the  kitchenette  he  was  momentarily  surprised 
to  see  Margery  opening  a  tin  box  labeled  "  Bread." 
Was  she  going  to  equip  him  with  a  lunch?  But  she 
drew  out,  not  a  loaf,  but  the  camera. 

"  You'll  want  to  take  this  along,"  she  said. 

"Indeed,  yes." 

Then  he  followed  her  out  on  to  the  back  porch, 
where  earlier — ages  ago,  it  seemed — he  had  de- 
posited the  stepladder. 

"  Now,"  said  Margery,  "  you  go  down  these  stairs 
and  diagonally  across  the  court  to  that  archway. 
See?"  She  pointed.  "That  brings  you  out  on 
the  other  side  of  the  block.  Nobody  will  be  looking 
for  you  there.  And  the  Elevated  station  is  three 
and  one-half  blocks  west.  Put  on  your  hat  and 
coat.  I'll  hold  it." 

"  Thank  you  so  much,"  said  Merriam,  as  the  coat 
slipped  on. 

Then  he  turned,  took  off  his  hat  again,  and  held 
out  his  hand. 

"  Good-bye,  Margery,"  he  said,  shaking  hands 
heartily.  "  Thank  you — for  everything." 

For  a  moment  they  looked  at  each  other  with 
mutual  respect.  • 

Then  Merriam  said: 

"  I'm  going  to  send  Simpson  around  to  see 
Jennie.  Shan't  I?  " 

"You  can  try  it,"  said  Margery.     "Good-bye." 

She  went  back  into  the  kitchenette  and  closed 
the  door. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

RETURN 

"TV  /TADISON  and  Wabash! "  shouted  tlie  guard. 
IV JL  Merriam  started,  picked  up  his  camera, 
and  made  for  the  door.  He  had  scarcely  heard  the 
other  stations  called  and  thanked  his  stars  that  he 
had  waked  up  for  this  one. 

He  descended  the  stairs  from  the  Elevated  plat- 
form and  found  Simpson  waiting. 

"  Good  morning,  Simpson." 

"  Good  morning." 

"  Mr.  Kockwell  says  you  can  get  me  into  the  hotel 
unnoticed." 

Simpson  looked  at  him  sideways,  hesitated,  then 
turned  and  started  slowly  west. 

Merriam  fell  into  step  beside  him  and  for  a  mo- 
ment wondered  obtusely  what  ailed  the  man.  Then 
he  understood.  Of  course!  He  wanted  news  of 
Jennie.  Perhaps  he  was  suspicious  as  to  how 
Merriam  might  have  spent  his  time  in  that  apart- 
ment. Perhaps  he,  like  Margery,  knew  his  Jennie 
only  too  well. 

To  set  his  mind  at  rest,  Merriam  plunged  at  once 
into  a  sketchy  summary  of  the  events  at  the  flat — 
Crockett's  arrival — "almost  as  soon  as  you  had 
left,"  he  placed  it — his  own  telling  of  his  story — - 

266 


RETURN  267 

Crockett's  being  half  convinced — Jennie's  plan — 
the  supper  party  (without  reference  to  Jennie's 
change  of  costume  or  the  dancing  on  the  table)  — 
Rockwell's  telephone  call — the  tying  up  and  the 
flash  lights. 

"  I  have  the  films  here,"  he  added,  exhibiting  the 
camera  as  tangible  evidence  that  he  was  not  yarn- 
ing. "  Can  you  get  them  developed  for  me  in  the 
morning?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Simpson,  in  a  much  less  frigid  tone 
than  before.  He  took  the  camera. 

"After  Crockett  had  gone,"  Merriam  continued 
smoothly,  "  I  talked  to  Jennie  about  you.  I  told 
her  she  ought  to  marry  you,  and  how  well  you've 
shown  up  in  this  affair,  and  that  Senator  Norman 
and  Rockwell  are  going  to  pay  you  a  bit  of  money 
for  it,  which  you've  certainly  earned,  and  that  you 
would  take  her  away  on  a  little  trip  anywhere  she 
wanted  to  go,  and  then  set  up  in  a  business  of  your 
own  somewhere,  and  that  she  would  be  a  lot  hap- 
pier that  way  than  now." 

An  older  man,  more  sensitive  to  the  dynamite  jn 
the  situation,  would  probably  have  spoken  less 
freely  and  less  successfully.  Whatever  else  Simp- 
son may  have  felt,  he  could  not  question  his  com- 
panion's youthful  candour  and  good  will.  After 
perhaps  a  dozen  steps  he  spoke  in  a  carefully  con- 
trolled voice: 

"  What  did  she  say?  " 

"  She  didn't  answer  me,"  lied  Merriam.  "  I  told 
her  to  think  it  over.  She  was  impressed  all  right. 


2G8      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

And  when  I  left  I  told  Margery  I  was  going  to  send 
you  around." 

11  What  did  Margery  say? "  asked  Simpson 
quickly. 

u  She  said  yes,  you  should  come." 

Simpson  drew  a  deep  breath  and  stopped  short  at 
a  corner. 

"  I'm  very  much  obliged  to  you,  sir,"  he  said, 
looking  quickly  at  Merriam  and  quickly  away 
again. 

Merriam  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Good  luck !  "  he  said. 

Simpson  grasped  the  hand  and  shook  it  intensely. 
Then,  resuming  his  really  admirable  self-control, 
he  said: 

"  We  turn  down  here.  I'm  going  to  take  you  up 
a  fire  escape.  It's  the  only  way.  You  can't  go 
into  a  hotel  in  the  regular  way  even  at  this  time  of 
night  T.'ithout  being  seen." 

They  turned  into  an  alley  which  ran  behind  the 
Hotel  De  Soto,  and  presently  came  to  a  door — a 
servants'  entrance — in  the  ugly  blank  wall  of  yel- 
low brick. 

Simpson  opened  the  door,  and  they  passed  into 
a  bare  hallway,  pine-floored,  plaster-walled,  lighted 
at  intervals  by  unshaded,  low-powered  incandes- 
cents. 

Many  doors  of  yellow  pine  opened  on  both  sides 
of  this  hall,  but  Simpson,  walking  rapidly  and 
quietly,  passed  them  all,  turned  into  a  further 
stretch  of  hallway,  narrower  and  still  more  dimly 


KETUEN  269 

lighted,  and  stopped  before  a  door  of  iron — evi- 
dently a  fire  door.  He  got  out  a  key  and  unlocked 
this  door,  and  they  emerged  into  the  air  again  in 
the  inner  court  of  the  hotel,  a  great  dismal  well, 
the  depository  of  drifts  of  soot,  accentuated  here 
and  there  by  scraps  of  paper  and  other  rubbish,  and 
the  haunt,  for  reasons  difficult  to  understand,  of 
the  indomitable,  grimy  wild  pigeons  of  the 
Loop. 

Simpson  closed  the  iron  door  behind  them  and 
began  a  searching  scrutiny  of  the  rows  of  windows. 
All  but  half  a  dozen  or  so  were  dark.  It  looked 
safe. 

Satisfied,  Simpson  walked  twenty  feet  or  more 
along  the  side  of  the  court  and  stopped  below  a 
fire  escape.  The  platform  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
iron  stairway  was  placed  too  high  for  a  man  to 
reach  it  from  the  ground  unaided. 

"  Give  me  a  boost,"  said  Simpson.  He  stooped 
and  placed  the  camera  on  the  ground. 

In  a  moment  Merriam  had  hoisted  him  up,  so 
that  he  could  catch  hold  of  the  end  of  the  platform 
and  pull  himself  on  to  it.  Then  Simpson  lay  down 
on  his  stomach  and  dropped  his  arms  over  the  edge 
of  the  platform.  Merriam  first  handed  up  the 
camera  and  then  with  a  little  jump  caught  his 
hands  and  was  drawn  up  until  he  in  his  turn  could 
get  hold  of  the  edge  of  the  landing  and  scramble 
on  to  it. 

A  moment  later  they  were  erect  and  had  begun 
stealthily  to  mount  the  narrow  stairs. 


270      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

It  seemed  to  Merriam  that  they  went  up  inter- 
minably— a  short  flight — a  turn — another  short 
flight — along  a  platform  past  sleeping  windows — 
another  flight.  He  got  out  of  breath,  and  began  to 
feel  very  tired.  The  effect  of  Margery's  coffee  was 
wearing  off. 

But  at  last  Simpson  stopped  on  one  of  the  plat- 
forms and  peered  through  a  window.  It  was  one 
of  which  the  shades  were  not  drawn  at  all  and  was 
open  about  two  inches  at  the  bottom. 

"  This  is  it,"  said  Simpson,  and  he  stooped, 
opened  the  window,  and  climbed  in. 

As  soon  as  Merriam  had  followed,  Simpson 
closed  the  window  and  drew  the  shade.  Then  he 
crossed  the  dark  room  and  pushed  a  switch. 

"  Where  are  we?  "  asked  Merriam. 

"  This  room  is  next  to  Senator  Norman's  bed- 
room," said  Simpson,  "  on  the  other  side  from  the 
sitting  room.  The  couple  who  had  it  left  this 
evening,  and  Mr.  Rockwell  has  taken  it  for  you  un- 
der the  name  of  Wilson.  Mr.  Rockwell  will  be  ex- 
pecting us." 

He  moved  to  a  door  at  the  side  and  knocked 
softly  four  times — once,  twice,  and  once  again. 

Almost  immediately  a  key  was  turned  on  the 
other  side,  the  door  was  opened,  and  Rockwell  stood 
surveying  them. 

There  was  only  a  dim  light  in  the  room  behind 
him.  With  a  glance  over  his  shoulder  at  the  bed 
where  the  sick  Senator  lay — the  same  bed  in  which 
Merriam  had  played  at  being  sick  on  the  previous 


RETURN  271 

afternoon, — he  entered  the  new  room  and  closed 
the  door. 

"  You've  made  it ! "  he  said.  "  Thank  Heaven ! 
You  weren't  seen,  Simpson?  " 

"  I  think  not,  sir." 

He  looked  closely  at  Merriam.  "  You're  tired," 
he  said. 

;;  I  sure  am." 

"  Well,  so  am  I.  What  a  day !  And  to-morrow 
will  be  as  bad.  Maybe  worse.  Never  again  will 
I  father  an  impostor.  But  we've  got  to  see  it 
through  this  time.  Sit  down.  Have  a  cigarette, 
and  tell  me  what  happened  at  the  flat.  Then  I'll 
let  you  go  to  bed  and  snatch  a  few  hours'  sleep. 
You  must  be  in  fighting  trim  to-morrow,  you 
know — for  the  speech !  " 

Merriam  took  the  proffered  cigarette  and  dropped 
gratefully  into  a  chair.  Rockwell  and  Simpson 
also  sat  down. 

"How's  Senator  Norman?"  Merriam  asked. 

"  Sick.  Hobart  looks  serious,  but  he  says  he'll 
pull  around  in  a  day  or  two.  He's  dosing  him 
heavily.  You've  simply  got  to  stay  by  us  and  play 
the  game  until  he's  on  his  feet  again." 

"  I  suppose  so.     Well " 

He  was  about  to  repeat  the  summary  of  the 
events  of  his  evening  which  he  had  already  given 
Simpson,  so  as  to  get  it  over  and  get  to  bed. 
But  before  he  could  begin  a  knock  sounded  at 
the  side  door  through  which  Rockwell  had  en- 
tered. 


272      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Simpson  went  to  the  door  and  opened  it.  It  was 
Dr.  Hobart. 

"  Miss  Norman  and  Mrs.  Norman  want  to  come 
in,"  he  said. 

Rockwell  hesitated.  No  doubt  he  would  have 
preferred  to  hear  Merriam's  story  himself  first, 
without  even  Aunt  Mary  present. 

Merriam  meanwhile  sat  up,  suddenly  forgetting 
his  fatigue:  he  was  to  see  Mollie  June  still  that 
night.  He  had  not  hoped  for  that. 

"  I  supposed  they  would  have  gone  to  bed," 
he  said,  to  cover  his  involuntary  show  of  in- 
terest. 

"No,"  said  Rockwell.  "After  the  dinner  party 
they  waited  for  me  to  come  back  with  Norman,  of 
course.  Then  he  was  so  ill  that  Hobart  kept  us  all 
busy  for  a  couple  of  hours  doing  things.  We  didn't 
want  to  get  in  a  nurse  on  account  of — you,  you 
know.  And  then  they  wanted  to  wait  till  you  came. 
We  expected  you  a  long  time  ago.  Well,"  he 
added,  turning  to  the  physician,  "  tell  them  to  come 
along." 

It  was  at  least  a  minute  before  they  arrived. 
Merriam  was  oddly  nervous.  He  had  been  through 
strange  scenes  since  he  had  left  Mollie  June  in  the 
Peacock  Cabaret,  and  she  must  have  divined  as 
much. 

They  entered,  Aunt  Mary  first  with  Mollie  June 
behind  her,  and  Merriam  and  Rockwell  rose.  The 
two  women  were  dressed  just  as  they  had  been  at 
the  dinner  party — Aunt  Mary  in  the  black  evening 


RETURN  273 

gown  and  Mollie  June  in  the  filmy  rose.  Mollie 
June  looked  just  a  little  pale  and  tired,  but  Aunt 
Mary  had  not  turned  a  hair. 

"  Well,  young  man,"  began  the  older  woman 
briskly,  "you've  kept  us  up  till  a  pretty  time  of 
night.  What  was  happening  there  where  you  were 
when  Mr.  Rockwell  telephoned?  Sit  down  and 
tell  us." 

Evidently  Aunt  Mary,  conscious  of  the  ungodly 
hour,  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  allow  Merriam 
time  for  even  a  formal  greeting  of  her  young  sister- 
in-law,  who  had  stopped  uncertainly  in  the  door- 
way. 

But  Merriam  was  not  to  be  hurried  to  quite  that 
degree,  whatever  the  time  of  night  or  morning 
might  be.  He  turned  to  Mollie  June. 

"  You're  coming  in,  aren't  you?  Take  this 
chair." 

He  pushed  a  rocker  towards  her,  concerned  at 
her  evident  fatigue. 

She  came  forward  and  sat  down,  then  raised  her 
eyes  to  him  with  a  grave  "  Thank  you." 

For  a  moment  Merriam  did  not  understand  that 
steady,  unsmiling  look.  Then  he  thought  he  did 
understand.  It  had  a  questioning  quality.  Mollie 
June's  mind  was  at  ease  now  about  her  husband, 
since  he  was  back  and  not  supposed  to  be  seriously 
ill,  and  she,  like  Simpson  earlier,  was  wondering — 
not  that  it  concerned  her,  of  course — -how  Merriam 
had  spent  the  night — so  large  a  part  of  it — at 
Jennie's  flat.  She,  too,  knew  Jennie,  to  the  extent 


274      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

at  least  of  having  seen  and  in  a  measure  compre- 
hended her.  Perhaps  even  in  a  Mollie  June  there 
is  that  which  enables  her  to  understand  a  Jennie 
and  her  lure  for  a  youthful  male.  He  remembered 
Mollie  June's  description  of  her  and  the  cool  de- 
tachment with  which  it  had  been  uttered :  "  She's 
pretty  and  sweet,  and — warm." 

For  just  an  instant  Merriam  was  slightly  con- 
fused. He  had  verified  that  description — all  of  it. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  his  embarrassment,  slight 
and  merely  instantaneous  though  it  was,  did  not 
escape  Mollie  June.  She  dropped  her  eyes,  still 
unsmiling. 

Merriam's  second  sketch  of  his  evening's  ad- 
ventures differed  from  the  one  he  had  given  Simp- 
son in  being  fuller  and  in  two  particular  points: 
first,  of  course,  in  omitting  reference  to  his  mis- 
sionary efforts  in  Simpson's  behalf,  which,  how- 
ever laudable,  were  hardly  for  the  ears  of  Mollie 
June ;  and,  second,  in  including  mention  of  Jennie's 
change  into  her  ballet  costume — -because  he  real- 
ised as  he  talked  that  the  pictures,  to  be  developed 
in  the  morning,  would  exhibit  that  detail  most 
unmistakably  and  that  he  would  do  well  to  prepare 
Mollie  June's  mind — and  Simpson's,  for  that 
matter — in  advance.  But  he  laid  his  emphasis  on 
the  more  dramatic  episodes — the  hurled  revolver, 
the  tying  up,  the  flash  lights,  and  Crockett's  angry 
exit.  He  told  it  humorously  and  well,  and  was 
rewarded  by  Mollie  June's  interest.  Her  question- 
ing gravity  disappeared,  and  she  followed  him  with 


RETURN  275 

eager  attention  and  with,  a  return  of  pretty  colour 
to  her  cheeks. 

Aunt  Mary  and  Rockwell — not  to  mention  Simp- 
son— also  listened  attentively.  When  Merriam  had 
finished  they  looked  at  each  other. 

"  Well,"  said  Kockwell,  "  I'm  not  sure  but  that 
it  would  have  been  better  to  let  him  go  as  soon  as 
you  had  told  him  your  yarn,  but  on  the  whole  I 
think  you  did  mighty  well.  Those  pictures  may 
come  in  handy." 

Aunt  Mary  rose.  "  You  certainly  are  an  enter- 
prising young  man,  Mr.  Merriam,"  she  said  dryly. 
"Now  go  to  bed  and  get  some  sleep.  You  make 
your  d4but  as  an  orator  at  noon,  you  know !  Come, 
Mollie  June." 

"  Good  night,  Miss  Norman,"  said  Merriam,  and 
he  advanced  to  Mollie  June,  who  had  also  risen. 

"  Good  night,  Mrs.  Mollie  June."  He  dropped 
his  voice  for  the  last  three  words  and  held  out  his 
hand. 

She  took  it  with  an  unconscious  happy  smile. 

"  Good  night — Mr.  John,"  she  said. 

Whatever  she  may  have  feared  or  suspected  his 
story  had  established  an  alibi  for  him. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  RErOKM  LEAGUE 

UARTER  to  ten,"  said  Rockwell  cheerily. 
"  I've  let  you  sleep  to  the  last  possible  mo- 
ment. Here's  your  breakfast  on  the  stand.  Better 
eat  it  and  drink  your  coffee  first.  Then  a  shave 
and  get  at  this."  He  indicated  a  small  pile  of 
manuscript  on  the  writing  table.  "Your  speech, 
Senator !  "  he  grinned. 

"  Good  Lord !  "  groaned  Merriam,  remembering 
everything.  He  perceived  also  that  he  was  to 
breakfast  alone — no  Mollie  June.  But  the  sight 
of  the  manuscript  fascinated  and  aroused  him. 
He  realised,  as  he  had  not  done  before,  that  within 
a  few  hours  he  was  to  make  a  public  address  in  a 
great  Chicago  club  before  many  of  the  city's  most 
prominent  men  and  women — on  what  subject,  even, 
he  had  no  idea ! 

"  Good  Lord ! "  he  said  again  and  put  his  feet 
out.  "  How's  Senator  Norman?  "  he  asked. 

"  Sleeping  now,"  said  Rockwell.  "  Hobart  thinks 
he  can  get  him  on  his  feet  by  night.  He's  due  to 
start  for  Cairo  this  evening,  you  know,  on  a  stump- 
ing trip."  Then  quickly :  "  You'll  find  these  sliced 
oranges  refreshing.  Have  your  bath  first  if  you 
want  to." 

276 


THE  REFORM  LEAGUE  277 

Merriam  was  in  the  midst  of  his  breakfast  when 
Rockwell  returned.  "  By  the  way,"  he  said,  "  here 
are  your  pictures,"  and  he  took  some  unmounted 
prints  from  an  envelope. 

Merriam  reached  for  them  with  curiosity  and 
something  like  trepidation.  They  were  not  good 
flash  lights — a  little  blurred, — but  the  faces  and 
attitudes  were  unmistakable.  Jennie's  foot  and 
leg  extending  forward  across  the  table  were  very 
much  in  evidence  in  the  first  of  them. 

"Rather  striking  poses,"  commented  Rockwell. 

"Jennie's  invention,"  said  Merriam  defensively. 

"  No  doubt.  Well,  they  could  hardly  be  better 
for  their  purpose.  I  think  Crockett  will  go  slow 
all  right." 

"  Have — has  Miss  Norman  seen  them?  " 

"  Yes.  And  Simpson,  of  course."  For  a  mo- 
ment Rockwell  quizzically  regarded  Merriam's 
face,  in  which  a  further  unspoken  question  was 
anxiously  plain.  Then  he  answered  it:  "No  one 
else.  Mrs.  Norman  is  still  sleeping.  I'm  not  sure 
Aunt  Mary  will  consider  them  proper  pictures  for 
her  to  see  anyway.  Come,"  he  added  briskly, 
"  you've  eaten  only  one  piece  of  toast.  You  must 
get  outside  of  at  least  one  more  piece.  And  then 
shave.  I'll  strop  your  razor  for  you.  I'm  your 
valet  this  morning,  Senator." 

With  a  sigh  Merriam  glanced  at  the  waiting 
speech  and  tackled  a  second  piece  of  toast,  with 
the  feeling  that  its  mastication  was  a  task  of  al- 
most impossible  difficulty.  He  achieved  it,  how- 


278      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

ever,  to  the  rhythmic  accompaniment  of  Rockwell's 
stropping,  consumed  another  cup  of  coffee — his 
third,  I  regret  to  say, — and  proceeded  to  shave. 

At  last  Merriam  was  collared  and  tied  and  was 
slipping  into  his  coat.  Eockwell  rose  and  laid 
down  the  manuscript. 

"  Eeady?  "  he  said.  "  Very  good.  You  can  get 
to  work.  It's  a  quarter  past  ten.  The  luncheon 
is  at  twelve-thirty.  But  we  shan't  appear  at  the 
luncheon  itself.  Too  dangerous.  You'd  have  to 
meet  a  lot  of  men  who  know  the  Senator — meet 
them  face  to  face  in  cold  daylight  and  talk  to  them. 
We'd  never  get  away  with  it.  So  I'll  telephone 
that  you've  been  detained  by  important  business 
but  will  be  in  for  the  speeches.  That  way  we'll 
come  in  by  ourselves,  with  everybody  else  set  and 
no  opportunity  for  personal  confabulations.  You'll 
have  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  their  eyes,  of  course. 
But  you  can  do  that." 

Earnestly  for  a  moment  he  scrutinised  Merriam's 
face  and  figure,  as  if  to  reassure  himself  that  the 
astounding  imposture  had  been  and  was  still  really 
possible. 

"Yes,"  he  continued  confidently,  "that'll  be  all 
right.  The  speeches  are  scheduled  to  begin  at  one- 
fifteen.  We'll  leave  here  at  five  or  ten  minutes 
after  one.  That  gives  you  nearly  three  hours  to 
salt  down  the  speech.  You  can  learn  it  verbatim 
or  only  master  the  outline  and  substance  and  give 
it  in  your  own  words.  Perhaps  you'd  better  learn 
a  good  deal  of  it  just  as  it  is.  Aunt  Mary  has  it 


THE  REFORM  LEAGUE  279 

chock-full  of  the  Senator's  pet  words  and  phrases. 
Your  own  style  might  be  too  different.  Do  you 
commit  easily?  " 

"  Fairly  so,"  said  Merriam.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  speech  itself  presented  few  terrors  to  him.  He 
had  done  a  good  deal  of  debating  and  declaiming 
in  college,  and  of  course  in  his  capacity  as  principal 
of  the  high  school  he  was  called  upon  for  "  a  few 
words  "  on  every  conceivable  occasion  in  Riceville. 

"  Good.  Go  to  it,  then.  I'll  make  myself  scarce. 
Here  are  cigarettes.  You  won't  be  disturbed.  Au 
revoir,  Senator !  If  you  want  anything,  knock  on 
this  door  Either  Hobart  or  I  will  answer." 

Grinning,  Kockwell  departed  into  the  real,  the 
sick  Senator's,  bedroom,  leaving  Merriam  with  the 
typewritten  manuscript. 

He  worked  away  for  a  couple  of  hours,  sometimes 
sitting  down,  more  often  walking  back  and  forth, 
occasionally  refreshing  himself  with  a  cigarette, 
and  faithfully  learning  by  heart  Aunt  Mary's  Sen- 
ator Norman's  speech  on  "  Municipal  Reform." 

By  half  past  twelve  he  had  mastered  it  to  his 
satisfaction.  He  decided  to  go  through  with  it 
once  more  by  the  clock.  It  was  designed,  as  he 
knew  from  a  pencil  note  at  the  top  of  the  first  page, 
to  take  thirty  minutes.  He  did  so,  and  came  out 
at  the  end  by  five  minutes  to  one. 

Evidently  his  delivery  was  a  little  more  rapid 
than  Senator  Norman's.  He  must  remember  to 
speak  slowly. 

He  had  just  reached  this  conclusion  when  a 


280      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

knock  sounded  at  the  side  door  and  Rockwell 
entered. 

"  I've  got  it  by  heart,"  said  Merriam. 

"Good!  Come  into  the  sitting  room,  then. 
You're  to  have  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  sandwich  be- 
fore you  start." 

"  Fine.    I  am  a  bit  hollow.    How's  the  Senator?  " 

Kockwell  looked  worried,  but  answered,  "  Sleep- 
ing again  now.  Gome  along  if  you're  ready." 

"  In  a  minute." 

Merriam  bathed  his  face  and  hands,  folded  the 
speech  and  put  it  in  his  pocket,  and  followed  Rock- 
well across  the  Senator's  bedroom,  with  just  a 
glance  at  the  sick  man  in  the  bed  and  a  nod  to  Dr. 
Hobart,  who  sat  by  the  window  with  a  newspaper, 
into  the  sitting  room. 

After  his  morning  of  intense,  solitary  labour  he 
was  somewhat  nonplused  for  a  moment  by  the  size 
of  the  company  he  found  assembled  there — Aunt 
Mary  and  Mollie  June,  of  course,  Alicia,  Mr.  Way- 
ward, and  Father  Murray.  He  said  good  morning 
to  each  of  them. 

Alicia  reminded  him  that  it  was  really  afternoon 
now. 

"We  shall  meet  Black  in  the  car,"  said  Rock- 
well. "Then  the  roll  of  the  conspirators  will  be 
complete ! " 

Mollie  June,  who  had  had  no  speech  to  learn,  had 
slept  late  and  was  now  as  blooming  as  ever. 

"We're  all  going  to  hear  you,"  she  said  as  she 
gave  Merriam  her  hand. 


THE  KEFOKM  LEAGUE  281 

"  Good  Heavens ! "  lie  said,  with  a  twinge  of 
the  stage  fright  which  he  had  thus  far  had  no 
time  to  feeL  "I  shouldn't  mind  the  others,  but 
you " 

He  left  that  dangerous  remark  unfinished. 

To  Aunt  Mary  he  said :  "  I've  learned  the  speech 
by  heart.  I  admire  it  very  much,"  and  was  pleased 
to  note  that  even  Aunt  Mary  had  an  author's  sus- 
ceptibility to  praise. 

Meanwhile  Simpson,  who  was  in  attendance,  had 
poured  out  a  cup  of  coffee,  and  Mollie  June  brought 
it  to  him  with  a  sandwich  on  a  plate. 

"  Won't  you  sit  down  to  eat  it?  "  she  asked,  re- 
garding him  with  a  look  of  awe  which  flattered  him 
enormously  and  served  to  quiet  his  rising  nervous- 
ness. 

(Mollie  June  had  taken  oratory  of  all  degrees 
and  on  all  possible  occasions  on  the  part  of  Norman 
as  a  matter  of  course,  but  the  thought  that  John 
Merriam,  who  was  only  a  little  older  than  herself 
and  had  taken  her  to  "  sociables  "  and  had  wanted 
to  make  love  to  her  but  had  not  dared,  was  about 
to  address  the  distinguished  Urban  Club  of  Chicago 
at  one  of  its  formidable  luncheons  filled  her  with 
admiration. ) 

"  Thank  you,"  he  said,  taking  the  coffee  and  the 
sandwich.  "  No,  I  think  I'll  eat  it  standing."  But 
he  smiled  at  her  with  the  confidence  which  her  ad- 
miration had  given  him,  thereby  increasing  the 
admiration — a  pleasing  psychological  circle. 

But  now  Eockwell  was  at  his  side  and  barely 


282      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

gave  him  time  to  finish  his  sandwich  and  gulp  down 
the  coffee. 

"  Miss  Norman  and  the  Senator  and  I  go  with 
Mayor  Black  in  the  Senator's  car,"  said  that  master 
of  ceremonies  and  conspiracies.  "  The  other  four 
of  you  are  to  follow  in  the  Mayor's  machine.  Here's 
your  coat  and  hat." 

Along  the  hall — down  in  the  elevator — through 
the  lobby  to  the  pavement — Merriam  had  only  a 
dazed  sense  of  being  part  of  an  irresistible,  con- 
spicuous procession  which  was  carrying  him 
whither  he  had  no  strong  desire  to  go. 

A  limousine  was  already  drawn  up  at  the  curb, 
and  the  hotel  starter  was  deferentially  holding  the 
door. 

Mayor  Black  was  already  within  the  car. 

"  Ah,  Senator,"  the  Mayor  ejaculated,  "  I'm  glad 
to  see  you  up  again,  and  to  have  you — really  you — 
coming  to  the  Kef  orm  League ! " 

For  an  instant  Merriam  did  not  understand. 
Then  he  realised  that  the  Mayor  thought  he  was 
addressing  the  real  Senator  Norman.  It  was  a 
good  omen  for  the  continued  success  of  his  imper- 
sonation. 

He  sank  into  the  seat  opposite  the  Mayor,  who 
was  facing  forward  with  Aunt  Mary  beside  him. 
Eockwell  climbed  in  and  sat  next  to  Merriam.  The 
door  slammed,  and  the  machine  started. 

Then,  as  the  Mayor  still  beamed  at  him  and 
as  neither  of  the  others  spoke,  Merriam  said 
gently : 


THE  REFORM  LEAGUE  283 

"  I'm  still  the  impostor,  I'm  afraid,  Mr.  Mayor." 

"  Eh ! " 

The  Mayor  leaned  forward  to  scrutinise  his  face 
and  then  turned  as  if  bewildered  and  still  uncon- 
vinced to  Kockwell. 

"  Yes,"  said  Kockwell.  "I  tried  to  get  you  on 
the  'phone  this  morning,  but  your  line  was  busy, 
and  I  didn't  have  a  chance  to  try  again.  The  Sen- 
ator is  still  sick.  Worse,  in  fact.  Mr.  Merriam  is 
going  to  keep  the  Senator's  engagement  at  the 
Urban  Club  for  him." 

"  My  God !  "  cried  the  Mayor.  "  Speak  before  all 
those  people !  You  never  can  do  it ! " 

"  Yes,  we  can,"  said  Rockwell,  with  smiling 
serenity.  "You  were  fooled  again  yourself  just 
now,"  he  pointed  out. 

The  Mayor  groaned.  "  Then  we  still  don't  know 
where  Senator  Norman  himself  will  stand  when 
he's  up,"  he  said. 

"  I  telephoned  you  yesterday  that  he  had  agreed 
to  everything,"  said  Aunt  Mary  coldly.  "  That 
was  true." 

"  While  he  was  sick,"  said  Black.  "  Will  he  stick 
to  it  when  he's  well  again?  " 

"He'll  have  to  stick,"  said  Rockwell.  "Ten 
times  more  so  after  this  speech.  He  can't  possibly 
go  back  on  that." 

"If  this  Mr. — Mr.  Merriam,"  said  the  Mayor, 
eyeing  him  with  profound  dislike,  "  is  unmasked  at 
the  Urban  Club,  it  would  be  the  utter  ruin  of  us 
all." 


284      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  It  undoubtedly  would/'  replied  Rockwell  cheer- 
fully. "All  the  more  reason  why  we  should  all 
keep  a  stiff  upper  lip  and  play  up  for  him." 

"  No !  "  cried  the  Mayor.  "  It's  insane !  Stop 
the  car!  I'll  step  into  the  nearest  store  and  tele- 
phone that  the  Senator  has  fainted  in  the  cab  and 
can't  appear.  Anything  is  better  than  this  awful 
risk." 

He  put  out  his  hand  for  the  cord  to  signal  to  the 
chauffeur.  But  Rockwell  roughly  struck  his  arm 
down. 

"  Sit  still ! "  he  commanded  savagely.  "  Do  you 
want  us  to  choke  you  again?  This  car  goes  on  to 
the  Urban  Club.  Senator  Norman  has  a  fine 
speech,  and  he'll  make  it  well.  No  one  will  sus- 
pect. The  thing  has  the  one  essential  characteris- 
tic of  successful  imposture — boldness  to  the  point 
of  impossibility.  If  any  one  notices  any  slight 
change  in  his  appearance  or  voice  or  manner,  it  will 
be  put  down  to  his  illness.  It  will  cinch  the  whole 
thing  as  nothing  else  could.  You've  got  to  go 
through  with  it,  Mayor." 

Mr.  Black  groaned  again  and  relapsed  into  a  dis- 
mal silence. 

Fortunately  he  did  not  have  long  to  brood,  nor 
Merriam  long  to  work  up  the  nervousness  which 
this  dialogue  had  naturally  renewed  in  him.  In  a 
couple  of  minutes  after  the  Mayor's  second  and 
more  lamentable  groan  the  limousine  stopped 
before  the  imposing  entrance  of  the  Urban 
Club. 


THE  REFORM  LEAGUE  285 

"  Sit  tight,  Mayor !  "  Rockwell  warned. 

Then  the  doorman  of  the  Club  opened  the  car, 
and  Rockwell  descended  and  helped  Aunt  Mary 
out,  and  Merriam  and  the  Mayor  followed. 

Inside  their  coats  and  the  men's  hats  were 
quickly  taken  from  them  by  efficient  checkroom 
boys,  and  they  were  guided  immediately  to  the  ele- 
vator. The  speeches  had  already  begun  upstairs, 
some  one  said. 

They  stepped  out  into  the  hallway  outside  the 
Club's  big  dining  room.  From  inside  came  the 
noise  of  clapping.  Some  one  had  just  finished 
speaking. 

"This  is  our  chance,"  said  Rockwell,  meaning 
doubtless  that  they  could  best  enter  during  the  in- 
terlude between  speeches.  "Go  ahead,  Senator. 
Take  the  Mayor's  arm !  " 

In  a  moment  they  were  passing  through  a  group 
of  tuxedoed  servants  at  the  door.  Merriam  was 
conscious  of  a  large  room  in  pleasant  tones  of 
brown  with  a  low  raftered  ceiling  and  many  win- 
dows of  small  leaded  panes.  The  tables  were  ar- 
ranged in  the  form  of  a  great  horseshoe,  with  the 
closed  end — the  speakers'  table — opposite  the  door. 
The  horseshoe  was  lined  inside  and  out  with  guests, 
perhaps  two  hundred  in  all — men  who  looked 
either  distinguished  or  intelligent,  occasionally 
both,  and  women  who  were  either  distinguished  or 
intelligent  or  beautiful — from  some  points  of  view 
the  great  city's  best. 

Then  came  the  turning  of  many  eyes  to  look  at 


286      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

himself  and  Mayor  Black,  and  the  toastmaster  at 
the  center  of  the  speakers'  table  rose  and  called  to 
them: 

"  Senator !    Mayor !    This  way." 

He  pointed  to  two  empty  chairs  on  either  side  of 
his  own. 

Merriam  nodded,  and,  still  propelling  the  semi- 
comatose  Black,  circled  one  side  of  the  horseshoe, 
giving  the  line  of  guests  as  wide  a  berth  as  he  could, 
to  avoid  possible  contretemps  from  personal  greet- 
ings to  which  he  might  be  unable  to  make  suitable 
response. 

Arrived  at  the  speakers'  table,  he  shook  hands 
warmly  with  the  toastmaster — a  bald,  benevolent- 
looking  man  of  much  aplomb,  whose  name  he  never 
learned — and  with  two  or  three  other  men  from 
nearby  chairs — evidently  personal  acquaintances 
of  Senator  Norman's — who  rose  to  welcome  him, 
making  talk  the  while  of  apologies  for  being  late. 
Presently  he  found  himself  seated  at  the  toastmas- 
ter's  right,  facing  the  distinguished  company.  No 
one  had  betrayed  any  suspicion.  The  imposture 
was,  in  fact,  as  Kockwell  had  said,  so  bold  as  to  be 
unthinkable. 

Mayor  Black  had  meanwhile  been  seated  at  the 
toastmaster's  left,  and  Eockwell  and  Aunt  Mary 
had  been  guided  to  two  vacant  seats  at  the  left  end 
of  the  speakers'  table.  The  necessity  of  greeting 
friends  had  somewhat  roused  the  Mayor,  who  had 
found  his  tongue  and  managed  to  respond,  though 
for  him  haltingly. 


THE  KEPOKM  LEAGUE  287 

The  toastmaster  leaned  towards  Merriam  and 
whispered : 

"  You're  to  speak  last,  Senator.  Colonel  Ed- 
wards is  next,  then  Mayor  Black,  then  you." 

With  that  he  rose  and  felicitated  the  company  on 
the  arrival  of  the  two  distinguished  servants  of  the 
City  and  the  Nation  between  whom  he  now  had  the 
honour  to  sit. 

He  then  introduced  Colonel  Edwards,  a  stout, 
quite  unmilitary-looking  gentleman,  who  was  ear- 
nestly interested  and  mildly  interesting  on  the  sub- 
ject of  good  roads  for  the  space  of  fifteen  minutes. 

Merriam's  attention  was  distracted  almost  at  the 
beginning  of  Colonel  Edwards'  speech  by  the  ar- 
rival at  the  entrance  of  the  dining  room,  now  di- 
rectly opposite  him,  of  the  second  taxi-load  from 
the  hotel.  Alicia  caught  Merriam's  eye  and  smiled 
at  him  mischievously.  Evidently  she  was  enjoying 
the  situation  to  the  full.  Mollie  June,  on  the  other 
hand,  though  deliciously  crowned  with  a  small 
blossomy  hat  of  obvious  expensiveness,  was  en- 
tirely grave,  her  eyes  fixed  almost  too  steadily  and 
too  anxiously  on  our  youthful  hero,  where  he  sat  in 
the  seats  of  the  mighty,  outwardly  at  least  as  much 
at  ease  as  if  he  had  been  accustomed  for  thirty 
years  to  find  himself  at  the  speakers'  table  of  his- 
toric clubs. 

Colonel  Edwards  suddenly  sat  down.  He  was 
one  of  those  rare  public  speakers  who  occasionally 
disconcert  their  audiences  by  stopping  when  they 
are  through. 


288      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

The  toastmaster  gasped,  but  rose  to  Ms  feet  and 
the  occasion  and  called  upon  Mayor  Black. 

As  the  Mayor  slowly  rose  Merriam  was  most  un- 
comfortably anxious — uncertain  whether  the  city's 
chief  executive  was  even  yet  sufficiently  master  of 
himself  to  face  an  audience  successfully.  But  Mr. 
Black  was  one  of  those  gentlemen,  not  uncommon 
in  public  life,  who  are  apparently  more  at  ease  be- 
fore an  audience  than  in  any  other  situation.  His 
great  mellow  voice  boomed  forth,  and  Merriam  re- 
laxed. That  speech  was  hardly,  perhaps,  one  of 
the  Mayor's  masterpieces.  But  that  mattered  lit- 
tle, of  course.  He  produced  an  admirably  even 
flow  of  head  tones.  It  sounded  like  a  perfectly 
good  speech. 

Merriam,  at  any  rate,  was  quite  oblivious  of  any 
lack  of  strict  logical  coherence  in  the  Mayor's  re- 
marks. He  was  suddenly  smitten  by  the  realisa- 
tion that  his  own  turn  came  next.  For  a  moment 
he  fought  a  panic  of  blankness,  then  mentally 
grabbed  at  the  opening  sentences  of  what  he  had  so 
carefully  committed  during  the  morning.  Out- 
wardly serene  and  attentive  to  the  speaker,  in- 
wardly he  hastily  rehearsed  his  first  half  dozen 
paragraphs,  and,  winking  his  eyes  somewhat  rap- 
idly perhaps,  fixed  the  outline  of  the  rest  of  it  in 
his  mind. 

The  Mayor  rose  to  a  climax  of  thunderous  tone 
and  eloquent  gesture  and  sat.  Loud  applause  fol- 
lowed. 

Across  the  clapping  hands  Merriam  glanced  at 


THE  EEFOKM  LEAGUE  289 

Mr.  Wayward  and  Alicia  and  Mollie  June  where 
they  sat  at  one  side  of  the  horseshoe.  The  other 
two  were  clapping,  but  Mollie  June  was  not.  He 
thought  she  looked  pale,  but  of  course  he  was  too 
far  away  to  be  sure.  "  She  is  afraid  for  me,"  he 
thought,  and  gratitude  for  her  interest  mingled 
with  a  fine  resolve  to  show  her  that  she  had  no 
cause  for  fear — that  he  would  give  a  good  account 
of  himself  anywhere — for  her. 

The  glow  of  that  resolution  carried  him  through 
the  ordeal  of  the  toastmaster's  introduction  and 
brought  him  to  his  feet  with  smiling  alacrity  at  the 
proper  moment. 

The  applause  was  hearty.  There  is  magic  still, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  in  the  word  "  senator."  He 
was  forced  to  bow  again  and  again. 

Then  he  struck  into  his  speech — Aunt  Mary's 
speech.  He  found  himself  letter-perfect.  He  had 
at  least  half  his  mind  free  to  attend  to  his  delivery. 
He  gave  it  slowly,  impressively,  grandly  facing  first 
one  part  of  his  audience  and  tken  another.  George 
Norman  himself  before  packed  galleries  in  the  Sen- 
ate Chamber  at  Washington  had  never  done  better. 
And  it  was  a  good  speech,  deftly  conceived,  clearly 
reasoned,  aptly  worded.  Merriam  himself  in  all 
his  morning's  study  of  it  had  not  realised  how  per- 
fectly it  was  adapted  to  the  occasion  and  the  audi- 
ence. Down  at  the  far  end  of  the  speakers'  table, 
the  female  author  of  it  sat  unnoticed,  watching 
with  tight-pressed  lips  its  effect;  her  only  right 
to  be  there,  if  any  one  had  asked  you,  the  ac- 


290      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

cident  of  her  relationship  to  the  wonderful  Sen- 
ator. 

He  reached  the  end.  As  he  rounded  out  the  last 
sentence  his  eyes  rested  triumphantly  for  a  second 
on  Mollie  June.  Whether  or  not  her  cheeks  had 
been  pale  before,  they  were  flushed  now.  He  sat 
down. 

The  room  rocked.  The  applause  this  time  was 
no  mechanical  reaction.  It  was  an  ovation.  The 
toastmaster  leaped  to  his  feet  with  ponderous  agil- 
ity and  grabbed  for  Merriam's  hand.  The  latter 
found  himself  standing,  the  center  of  a  group  of 
excited  men,  all  of  whom  he  must  pretend  to  know, 
overwhelming  him  with  congratulations. 

Behind  him  he  caught  a  remark  that  was  doubt- 
less not  intended  for  his  ears :  "  How  the  devil  does 
he  keep  his  youthful  looks  and  fire?  He  might  be 
twenty-five ! " 

Then  Rockwell  charged  into  the  group,  excited 
himself,  but  persistent  with  the  formula,  "  Press- 
ing engagement,"  and  got  him  put  of  the  room,  and 
into  the  elevator,  and  through  the  hallway  on  the 
first  floor,  with  his  hat  and  coat  restored,  and  into 
the  limousine,  which  darted  away  for  the  hotel. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR 

MERRIAM  and  Rockwell  were  alone  in  the 
Senator's  car. 

Merriam  leaned  back  against  the  cushions  and 
closed  his  eyes.  He  was  at  once  fatigued  and  ex- 
cited. It  almost  seemed  to  him  that  he  was  still 
addressing  the  Urban  Club.  Then  he  seemed  to  be 
talking  still  but  to  a  single  auditor — a  girl  with 
flushed  cheeks  and  eyes  that  shone  with  excited 
pride. 

He  opened  his  eyes.  Rockwell  was  regarding 
him  steadily.  "  I  don't  wonder  you  feel  done  up," 
he  said.  "  It  was  splendid,  my  boy.  You  spoke 
like  a  veteran.  You  ought  to  go  into  public  life  on 
your  own.  Perhaps  you  will."  He  seemed  to 
meditate.  Then :  "  You  saw  Crockett,  I  suppose?  " 

"  No !  "  exclaimed  Merriam. 

"  Didn't  you?  He  was  seated  six  places  to  your 
right  at  the  speakers'  table.  Right  in  line  with 
you,  of  course.  Not  strange  you  missed  him.  Just 
as  well,  perhaps.  It  might  have  shaken  even  your 
nerve." 

The  phrase  "even  your  nerve"  was  pleasant 
praise  to  Merriam.  He  had  never  thought  of  him- 

291 


292      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

self  as  possessed  of  any  exceptional  sang  froid. 
But  perhaps  he  had  behaved  with  rather  creditable 
composure  in  a  trying  situation. 

"  He  was  shaken,  I  can  tell  you,"  Rockwell  was 
saying.  "  Lord,  I  was  on  pins !  I  didn't  know  but 
what  when  you  rose  to  speak  he  would  jump  up  and 
denounce  you.  But  not  he.  He  simply  lay  back 
and  stared  and  kept  moistening  his  Tips.  I  sup- 
pose he  couldn't  make  up  his  mind  for  sure  whether 
you  were  the  Senator  or  the  double  or  whether  he 
himself  had  gone  crazy  or  not.  We'll  hear  from 
him,  though,"  he  added  reflectively. 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Merriam  wearily.  "  I  wish 
to  Heaven  we  were  clean  through  the  thing ! " 
That  feeling  had  come  suddenly,  and  for  the  mo- 
ment he  meant  it,  though  he  was  having  the  time 
of  his  life. 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Rockwell  heartily.  "  But  we're 
not.  Not  by  a  long  shot.  So  you  must  buck  up. 
Here's  the  hotel.  You  shall  have  a  real  meal  now. 
That'll  put  heart  into  you  again." 

The  machine  stopped,  and  the  door  was  opened. 

"  Quick  time,  now !  "  Rockwell  whispered. 

Senator  Norman  and  his  new  political  manager, 
Mr.  Rockwell  of  the  Reform  League,  rushed  almost 
precipitately  into  the  lobby  of  the  Hotel  De  Soto 
and  made  a  bee  line  for  the  nearest  elevator.  It 
was  obvious  that  important  business  urgently 
called  them,  for  they  merely  nodded  hurriedly  in 
response  to  several  cordial  salutations. 

As  the  elevator  shot  up  Rockwell  leaned  heavily 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR          293 

against  the  side  of  the  car,  took  off  his  hat,  though 
there  was  no  one  with  them,  drew  a  deep  breath, 
and  comically  winked  both  eyes  at  Merriam. 

"  What  a  life ! "  he  ejaculated. 

Stepping  out  at  Floor  Three,  they  were  greeted 
by  the  spectacle  of  Dr.  Hobart  bending  over  the 
floor  clerk's  desk  and  evidently  having  a  delightful 
tete-a-tete  with  the  handsome  young  mistress  of 
that  sanctum,  whose  eyes  were  coquettishly  raised 
to  his,  though  her  head  was  slightly  bent — for  she 
was  smelling  an  American  Beauty  rose.  A  large 
vase  of  the  same  expensive  flowers  adorned  one  cor- 
ner of  her  desk. 

Only  a  momentary  glimpse  did  Merriam  and 
Rockwell  have  of  this  pretty  tableau,  for  Dr.  Ho- 
bart at  once  straightened  up  as  if  in  some  embar- 
rassment and  came  towards  them. 

"  I  was  just  thinking  it  was  about  time  for  you 
to  be  back,"  he  said,  though  he  surely  did  not  expect 
them  to  believe  that  he  had  just  been  thinking  any- 
thing of  the  sort. 

The  pretty  floor  clerk,  no  whit  nonplused,  bowed 
and  smiled  at  Rockwell.  But  she  studiously  failed 
to  observe  Senator  Norman's  presence. 

Dr.  Hobart  walked  down  the  hall  with  them. 

"  How's  Norman?  "  Rockwell  asked. 

"  No  better,  I'm  afraid,"  said  the  physician  apol- 
ogetically. "  He  has  a  high  fever,  and  a  while  ago 
he  was  slightly  delirious.  I  had  to  give  him  more 
of  the  drug.  He's  sleeping  again  now.  Simpson 
is  with  him,  of  course." 


294      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Damn ! "  said  Rockwell,  with  a  sort  of  deliber- 
ate earnestness. 

They  reached  the  sitting  room  and  entered  it. 
There  was  no  one  there.  Simpson  was  apparently 
in  the  Senator's  bedroom.  Merriam  dropped  into 
a  chair  and  closed  his  eyes  again.  Eockwell 
walked  across  to  a  window  and  stood  staring  out. 
Dr.  Hobart  stopped  uncertainly  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  and  fiddled  with  a  cigarette  without  being 
able  to  make  up  his  mind  to  light  it.  For  several 
moments  none  of  them  spoke. 

But  Rockwell  was  not  the  man  to  remain  long  in 
any  apathy  of  inaction.  He  turned  suddenly,  and 
Merriam,  whom  the  prolonged  unnatural  silence 
had  caused  to  open  his  eyes,  saw  that  he  had  made 
up  his  mind  to  something. 

"Hobart,"  he  said,  "I  suppose  Simpson  isn't 
practically  necessary  in  there."  He  indicated  the 
sick  room. 

"  N-no,"  said  Dr.  Hobart,  "  I  suppose  not.  He's 
just  watching.  Norman  will  sleep  soundly  for 
some  time." 

"  Then  ask  him  to  come  here,  will  you?  " 

The  physician  disappeared  into  the  bedroom  and 
in  a  moment  returned  with  Simpson. 

"  Simpson,"  said  Kockwell,  "  we're  going  to  have 
a  meal  here,  for  nine  people.  A  luncheon,  if 
you  like.  But  make  it  hearty.  Choose  the  stuff 
yourself,  and  serve  it  as  quickly  as  you  can, 
please." 

For  a  moment  Simpson  stared.     Then,  as  if  re- 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR          295 

membering  a  nearly  forgotten  cue,  he  replied  sub- 
missively, "  Yes,  sir,"  and  turned  to  the  door. 

As  that  door  closed  behind  Simpson,  Merriam 
suddenly  stood  up. 

"  I  must  send  a  telegram  to  Riceville,"  he  said, 
starting  for  the  writing  table  for  a  blank. 

"  Wait  a  bit,"  said  Rockwell.  "  You  can  send  it 
just  as  well  an  hour  from  now." 

Merriam  was  disposed  to  argue,  but  just  then  the 
rest  of  their  party  trooped  in,  having  returned  to 
the  hotel  in  Mayor  Black's  car. 

Alicia  walked  straight  up  to  Merriam,  gay 
with  enthusiasm,  caught  his  hand,  and  squeezed 
it. 

"My  dear  boy,"  she  cried,  "it  was  perfectly 
splendid !  I've  half  a  mind  to  kiss  you ! " 

"  Please  do,"  said  Merriam. 

"I  will,"  said  Alicia  promptly,  and  before  the 
young  man  could  realise  what  was  happening  she 
had  put  her  gloved  hands  on  his  shoulders  and 
kissed  him  on  one  cheek. 

Merriam  was  vastly  astonished.  In  the  circles 
in  which  he  had  moved  in  Riceville  or  even  at  col- 
lege, his  remark  could  have  been  taken  only  as  a 
daring  pleasantry.  But  he  undoubtedly  had  sang 
froid,  for  he  concealed  his  confusion,  or  most  of  it, 
and  said : 

"  Let  me  turn  the  other  cheek." 

"Oh,  I  mustn't  be  a  pig,"  said  Alicia.  "Til 
leave  the  other  cheek  for  Mollie  June." 

At  this  Merriam's  confusion  became,  I  fear,  per- 


296      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

fectly  apparent,  for  the  remainder  of  the  party  had 
followed  Alicia  into  the  room  and  were  grouped 
about  him. 

"Kiss  him  quick,  Mollie  dear,"  said  the  incor- 
rigible Alicia,  thereby  causing  confusion  in  a  sec- 
ond person  present. 

But  Mayor  Black,  no  longer  to  be  restrained, 
saved  the  situation.  He  seized  Merriam's  hand 
and  pumped  it. 

"  One  of  the  best  speeches  I  ever  heard  the  Sen- 
ator make ! "  he  asserted,  in  tones  which  Merriam 
feared  might  rouse  the  real  Senator  in  the  adjoin- 
ing room. 

Mr.  Wayward  meanwhile  was  patting  him  on 
the  back  and  murmuring,  "  Fine !  Excellent ! " 

Merriam  turned  to  Aunt  Mary : 

"  I  tried  to  do  it  justice,"  he  said. 

"  You  gave  it  exceedingly  well,"  said  Aunt  Mary, 
with  less  reserve  than  he  had  ever  seen  her  exhibit 
before. 

"  Indeed  you  did !  "  cried  Mollie  June  earnestly, 
her  eyes  shining  with  sincerity. 

And  that  tribute,  from  the  least  qualified  judge 
of  them  all,  was,  I  regret  to  state,  the  one  which 
young  Merriam  treasured  the  most. 

Simpson,  who  had  worked  with  amazing  alacrity, 
and  even  inspired  his  assistants  to  celerity,  had 
completed  Ms  preparations  and  announced  that  he 
was  ready  to  serve  the  luncheon. 

Rockwell  delayed  the  meal  for  several  minutes 
for  the  sake  of  an  apparently  important  conference 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR          297 

into  which,  he  had  drawn  Mr.  Wayward  and  the 
Mayor  over  by  the  window. 

Presently,  however,  they  all  sat  down,  with  Mer- 
riam  beside  Mollie  June.  The  luncheon  passed,  as 
luncheons  do,  in  small  talk  and  anecdote. 

At  last  Rockwell,  having  finished  the  last  morsel 
of  a  piece  of  French  pastry,  laid  down  his  fork  and 
fixed  his  eyes  significantly  on  Mr.  Wayward,  who 
was  in  mid-career  with  something  like  his  fifteenth 
anecdote.  Mr.  Wayward  faltered  but  rallied  and 
finished  his  story.  It  was  the  best  one  he  had  told, 
but  there  was  only  perfunctory  laughter.  Every 
one  about  the  table  was  looking  at  Rockwell,  realis- 
ing that  at  last  the  great  question  that  was  in  all 
their  minds,  "  What  are  we  to  do  next?  "  was  to  be 
discussed  and  decided.  Simpson,  it  should  be 
added,  had  dismissed  his  assistants  as  soon  as  the 
dessert  course  was  served,  so  that  only  the  initiated 
were  present. 

Three  times  during  the  meal  Dr.  Hobart  had  left 
the  table  to  enter  the  sick  room.  On  the  second 
occasion  he  had  remained  away  some  minutes. 
Rockwell  now  turned  to  him. 

"  Give  us  your  report,  Doctor,"  he  said  abruptly. 

"Well,"  replied  the  physician,  "he  is  better. 
Half  an  hour  ago  he  was  awake  for  perhaps  five 
minutes.  His  temperature  is  lower,  though  he 
still  has  some  fever.  He  is  sleeping  again  now, 
more  quietly  than  at  any  time  since  he  returned 
to  the  hotel.  In  short,  he  is  doing  as  well  as  could 
be  expected.  But  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  him 


298      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

to  start  on  that  speech-making  tour  this  even- 
ing." 

"  Undoubtedly,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  with  much  de- 
cision. 

"Just  so,"  said  Rockwell.  "That  being  the 
case,  two  alternatives  present  themselves:  to.  an- 
nounce his  illness  and  call  off  the  trip,  or  to  go  on 
playing  the  game  as  we  have  begun,  with  Mr.  Mer- 
riam's  help." 

Merriam  gasped  and  opened  his  mouth  to  pro- 
test, but  Rockwell  waved  him  down. 

"  The  Mayor  and  Mr.  Wayward  and  I  have  been 
discussing  the  matter.  At  first  blush,  there  may 
seem  to  be  little  question  as  to  which  of  these  two 
courses  we  should  pursue.  Having  come  safely — 
so  far  as  we  know  at  least — through  all  the  perils 
of  discovery  thus  far,  it  may  seem  that  we  should 
tempt  fortune  no  further,  but  let  Mr.  Merriam  re- 
turn to  his  school,  publish  the  fact  of  the  Senator's 
illness,  and  cancel  the  speaking  engagements." 

"  Surely  yes,"  interjected  Merriam,  and  Aunt 
Mary  and  Father  Murray  and  Mollie  June  and 
even  Alicia  seemed  to  assent. 

"  On  further  consideration,"  Eockwell  continued 
imperturbably,  "  I  think  you  will  all  see  that  the 
thing  is  not  so  clear.  The  course  I  have  just  sug- 
gested may  be — doubtless  is — the  more  prudent 
one,  if  prudence  were  all,  but  it  is  decidedly  unfair 
to  George  Norman." 

At  this  Aunt  Mary  almost  visibly  pricked  up  her 
ears. 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OP  WAR          299 

Rockwell  went  on,  "we  have 
thrown  over  the  conservative  wing  of  the  party, 
with  whom  he  has  always  stood  and  who  have  sup- 
ported him — have  'betrayed'  them,  as  they  will 
put  it,  in  this  traction  matter  and  in  aligning  him 
with  the  Reform  League.  We  did  so  on  the  theory 
that  he  was  to  appeal  to  the  people  and  to  come 
back  stronger  than  ever  as  the  leader  of  the  new 
and  growing  progressive  element,  which  is  sure  to 
be  dominant  in  the  next  election  if  only  they  can 
find  such  a  leader  as  Norman  could  be.  But  if  we 
cancel  this  trip  and  let  him  drop  out  of  the  cam- 
paign, if  we  stop  now,  where  will  he  be?  He  will 
have  lost  his  old  backers  and  will  not  have  made 
new  ones.  He  will  be  politically  dead.  We  shall 
have  played  absolutely  into  the  hands  of  Crockett 
and  Thompson  and  the  rest  of  the  gang,  and  shall 
have  accomplished  nothing  but  the  political  ruin  of 
George  Norman." 

All  the  persons  about  the  table  except  Mayor 
Black  and  Mr.  Wayward  stared  hard  at  Rockwell 
as  this  new  view  of  their  predicament  sank  into 
their  minds.  The  Mayor  and  Mr.  Wayward  smiled 
and  nodded  and  watched  the  effect  on  the  others. 
Particularly  they  watched  Merriam,  who  sat  dum- 
founded  and  vaguely  alarmed.  What  new  entan- 
glements was  Rockwell  devising  for  him?  He 
must  get  back  to  Riceville.  Involuntarily — he 
could  not  have  said  why — he  cast  a  quick  glance  at 
Mollie  June,  and  encountered  a  similar  glance  from 
her.  They  both  looked  away  in  confusion. 


300      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Aunt  Mary  spoke : 

"  Tell  us  your  plan." 

It  was  like  her — that  masterful  acceptance,  with- 
out comment,  of  the  situation. 

"  My  plan,  as  you  call  it,"  said  Rockwell,  fixing 
his  eyes  not  on  Aunt  Mary  but  on  Merriam,  "  is 
simply  that  we  should  go  on  for  another  day  or  two 
as  we  have  begun — play  the  game  for  George  until 
he  can  take  the  cards  in  his  own  hands.  This  is 
Thursday.  He  is  scheduled  to  leave  this  evening 
for  Cairo,  to  speak  there  at  nine  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning,  to  go  on  to  East  St.  Louis  for  a  talk  be- 
fore the  Eotary  Club  at  noon,  and  then  up  to 
Springfield  for  an  address  in  the  evening.  Is  that 
correct?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Aunt  Mary.  "  And  he  was  to  speak 
in  Bloomington  and  Peoria  on  Saturday  and  in 
Moline  and  Preeport  on  Sunday." 

"  The  speeches  are  all  ready,  I  believe?  " 

"Yes.  George  and  I  outlined  them  together 
some  time  ago,  and  I  have  them  written  and  typed." 

"  Exactly.  Turn  the  manuscripts  over  to  Mr. 
Merriam  as  you  did  this  morning.  He  will  have 
time  on  the  train  on  the  way  to  each  place  to  mas- 
ter the  speech  to  be  given  at  that  point.  We  shall 
take  a  special  car.  Mr.  Wayward  and  I  will  go 
with  him.  You" — he  was  addressing  Aunt  Mary 
— "and  the  Mayor  ancf  Dr.  Hobart — and  Simp- 
son," he  added,  glancing  up  at  the  waiter,  who 
stood  listening  in  the  background, — "  and  the  rest 
of  you  will  stay  here  to  guard  George.  That  will 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR          301 

be  easy  when  the  newspapers  are  full  of  his  speeches 
out  in  the  State." 

"  Mr.  Crockett  will  know,"  said  Father  Murray 
timidly. 

"He  may  suspect,"  said  Rockwell  with  a  grin. 
"  But  if  you  keep  every  one  away  from  George — 
conceal  his  presence  here,  —  he  can't  be  sure 
whether  it's  George  himself  or  his  double  who  is 
speech-making  over  the  State.  And  if  he  were 
sure,  he  wouldn't  dare  denounce  him.  Thanks  to 
Mr.  Merriam's  clever  trick  last  night,  he  has  a  par- 
ticularly strong  reason  for  keeping  his  mouth  shut. 
If  on  the  other  hand  we  give  up  and  lie  down — can- 
cel the  trip, — he  can  easily  start  all  manner  of 
nasty  stories  about  his  escapades.  I'm  sorry  to  say 
it,  but  George  has  a  pretty  widespread  sporting 
reputation."  Rockwell  glanced  apologetically  at 
Mollie  June,  but  continued.  "When  a  man  with 
such  a  character  is  laid  up,  people  are  ready  to  be- 
lieve anything  except  that  he  is  really  legitimately 
sick.  Things  will  be  safer  here  than  they  would  be 
if  we  abandoned  our  trick.  And  our  part  out  in 
the  State  will  be  '  nuts,'  compared  to  what  it  was 
at  the  Urban  Club  this  noon,  for  instance.  Very 
few  people  out  there  know  Norman  well.  There  is 
no  question  at  all  that  Mr.  Merriam  will  get  by. 
And  we  know  from  this  noon  that  he  will  make  the 
speeches  in  fine  shape." 

"  The  speeches  will  need  to  be  altered  a  bit,"  said 
Aunt  Mary,  "  if  they  are  to  appeal  to  the  progress- 
ives." 


302      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  Mr.  Merriam  can  attend  to  that  on  the  train." 
said  Rockwell.  "  Soften  the  standpattism  and 
throw  in  some  progressive  dope.  Can't  you?  "  He 
appealed  to  Merriam. 

"  I  suppose  I  could,"  said  Merriam,  "  but — my 
school." 

"  I  know,"  said  Eockwell,  "  but  it  will  be  only  a 
day  or  two  longer.  We'll  telegraph  again,  of 
course.  If  you  were  really  sick,  as  we've  been  tell- 
ing them,  they'd  have  to  get  along,  wouldn't  they? 
You've  got  to  see  us  through.  We  must  keep  the 
ball  rolling.  It  will  probably  be  only  one  more 
day.  George  will  be  able  to  travel  to-morrow,  I 
presume?  "  he  asked  of  Dr.  Hobart.  "  By  noon, 
anyway?  " 

"  By  noon,  I  hope,"  said  the  physician  with  cheer- 
ful optimism. 

"  You  see?  "  said  Eockwell.  "  George  can  catch 
the  noon  train  for  Springfield  and  get  there  in  time 
to  take  on  the  evening  speech.  Mr.  Merriam  will 
have  made  the  two  at  Cairo  and  East  St.  Louis. 
He  can  go  back  to  Riceville  from  Springfield." 

Just  then  the  telephone  rang,  and  I  believe  every 
person  in  the  room  jumped. 

Rockwell  rose  to  answer  it. 

"  Senator  Norman?  Yes,  he  is  here.  But  he  is 
engaged.  This  is  Mr.  Rockwell,  his  manager.  You 
can  give  the  message  to  me." 

A  moment  later  he  put  his  hand  over  the  receiver 
and  turned  to  Merriam. 

"  He  insists  on  speaking  to  the  Senator.    You'll 


have  to  answer.  I  think  it's  Crockett.  For 
Heaven's  sake,  be  careful !  " 

Merriam  took  the  receiver : 

"Hello!" 

A  voice  which  he  remembered  only  too  well  from 
the  night  before  at  Jennie's  replied : 

"  This  is  Mr.  Crockett.  I  have  the  honour,  I  be- 
lieve, of  speaking  to  Mr.  Merriam." 

"  You  have  the  wrong  number !  "  said  Merriam 
and  hung  up. 

But  before  he  had  had  time  to  explain  to  the 
others  or  even  to  wonder  whether  he  had  done 
wisely,  the  bell  jangled  again.  He  turned  back  to 
the  instrument.  Rockwell  came  quickly  to  his  side, 
and  Merriam,  taking  down  the  receiver,  held  it  so 
that  his  "  manager  "  too  should  be  able  to  hear 
what  came  over  the  wire. 

"Hello!" 

"  Ah !  Senator  Norman,  by  your  voice,"  said 
Crockett  in  tones  of  elaborate  irony.  "I  wish  to 
congratulate  you,  Senator,  on  your  speech  this 
noon.  It  was  a  magnificent  effort.  So  full  of  pro- 
gressive ideas  and  youthful  virility !  " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam. 

"And,  Senator,  I  really  must  see  you  right 
away.  I  am  calling  from  the  lobby.  I  will  come 
up  to  your  rooms  at  once,  if  I  may.  Or  meet  you 
anywhere  else  you  say.  It  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  you,  Mr.  Mer "  (he  pretended  to  cor- 
rect himself)  "to  you,  Senator,  as  well  as  to 
me." 


304      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  Merriam.  He  put  his 
hand  over  the  mouthpiece  and  looked  at  Rockwell. 

"  Tell  him  you  will  see  him  at  eight  o'clock  this 
evening,  here." 

Merriam  repeated  this  message. 

"At  eight?"  said  Crockett,  with  significant  em- 
phasis on  the  hour.  "  Very  good,  Senator.  Thank 
you."  He  hung  up. 

Kockwell  and  Merriam  turned  to  the  others. 
Aunt  Mary  and  the  rest  had  risen.  They  were 
standing  by  their  places  about  the  table,  looking 
rather  scared. 

"Eight  o'clock?"  questioned  Aunt  Mary,  with 
an  emphasis  similar  to  Crockett's. 

"  Yes,"  said  Kockwell  doggedly.  "  Because  " — 
he  addressed  Merriam — "  your  train  goes  at  seven. 
At  seven-thirty  Miss  Norman  shall  telephone  Crock- 
ett, expressing  your  regret  that  you  overlooked  the 
fact  that  you  would  have  to  be  gone  by  that  time. 
Man  alive !  "  he  cried.  "  Don't  you  see?  The  Sen- 
ator can't  be  sick  now — after  your  public  appear- 
ance this  noon.  Half  the  people  who  count  in  Chi- 
cago saw  you — him,  there — right  as  a  trivet — obvi- 
ously perfectly  well.  And  we  can't  keep  you  here, 
with  Crockett  and  Thompson  continually  nosing 
'round.  There's  nothing  for  it  but  for  you  to  start 
on  that  trip.  The  trip's  a  godsend.  Write  your 
telegram  to  Eiceville ! " 

Merriam  glanced  around  the  circle  of  faces. 
Mad  as  the  thing  was,  they  all  seemed  to  agree  with. 
Rockwell.  Mayor  Black  and  Mr.  Wayward  and 


SECOND  COUNCIL  OF  WAR  305 

even  Simpson  seemed  to  be  asking  him,  as  man  to 
man,  to  stand  by  them.  Father  Murray  was  tim- 
idly expectant.  Dr.  Hobart,  he  noticed,  was  star- 
ing down  at  the  table  as  if  in  thought.  Aunt  Mary, 
looking  him  full  in  the  eyes,  gave  an  affirmative 
nod.  Alicia's  eyes  and  shoulders  registered  appeal 
as  conspicuously  as  if  she  had  been  a  movie  actress. 
And  Mollie  June  seemed  to  be  begging  him  not  to 
desert  her. 

With  a  gesture  of  resignation  he  went  over  to  the 
writing  table  and  sat  down  to  compose  his  third 
mendacious  telegram  to  Riceville. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR 

THE  writing  of  that  telegram!  occupied  Merriam 
for  several  minutes.  He  was  distracted  by 
scruples.  He  did  not  like  lying,  and  lie  felt,  truly 
enough,  that  he  was  cheating  his  employers,  the 
Board  of  Education  of  Riceville,  and  the  patrons 
of  the  school,  and  his  boys  and  girls,  by  staying 
away  from  the  work  he  was  paid  to  do. 

When,  after  a  last  momentary  hesitation,  he 
wrote  his  name  and  looked  up,  he  found  Simpson 
standing  by  him,  ready  to  take  the  message.  He 
noticed  the  man's  new  air  of  cheerfulness. 

But  he  had  no  time  to  reflect  on  this  phenomenon, 
for  the  party  was  breaking  up. 

There  were  four  of  them  left — Merriam  and 
Rockwell,  Aunt  Mary  and  Mollie  June. 

"Well,"  said  Rockwell,  with  a  sigh,  "we're  off 
again.  You'd  better  go  to  your  own  room — Mr. 
Wilson's  room.  I  promised  the  reporters  to  see 
them  at  half  past  four,  and  it's  nearly  that  now. 
You'll  need  to  pack.  Take  these  speeches  with, 
you.  I'll  let  you  know  when  the  taxi  comes." 

In  a  moment  Merriam  was  crossing  the  Senator's 
room.  Involuntarily  he  cast  a  glance  at  the  sick 
man  in  the  bed.  In  a  small  chair  by  the  head  of 

306 


the  bed  Mollie  June  was  sitting,  her  eyes  on  her 
husband.  She  looked  up  as  Merriam  traversed  the 
room,  met  his  gaze  soberly  for  an  instant,  and  then 
looked  back  at  Norman. 

Merriam  passed  through  the  door  on  the  other 
side  into  his  own  room.  He  closed  the  door  softly 
behind  him,  set  the  portfolio  on  a  chair,  and  put  his 
hand  to  his  forehead.  The  tiny  connubial  tableau 
of  which  he  had  just  had  a  glimpse  had  brought 
home  to  him,  as  nothing  before  had  done,  the  fact 
that  Mollie  June  really  was  another  man's  wife. 
The  acute  realisation  left  him  blank.  He  crossed 
over,  sank  into  a  chair  by  the  window,  and  stared 
out  across  the  fire  escape.  Another  man's  wife! 
And  he  loved  her.  Of  course  he  loved  her,  just  as 
he  had  always  done.  And  she  loved  him,  a  little  at 
least.  That  such  a  thing  should  happen  to  him — 
and  her!  Because  he  had  been  a  coward  three 
years  ago  in  Eiceville ! 

How  long  he  sat  dully  revolving  such  thoughts 
as  these  he  had  no  idea.  He  was  startled  by  the 
opening  of  the  door  from  the  Senator's  bedroom. 
He  sprang  to  his  feet  with  the  involuntary  thought 
that  it  might  be  Mollie  June — though  of  course  she 
would  have  knocked.  It  was  Simpson. 

"  Shall  I  pack  your  things,  sir?  " 

"  Why — yes,"  said  Merriam. 

He  knew  from  novels  that  the  valet  of  the  hero 
always  packs  his  bag.  Evidently  Simpson  had 
come  in  this  capacity.  To  Merriam's  American 
self-sufficiency  it  seemed  an  absurd  practice.  Why 


308      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

shouldn't  any  man  put  his  own  things  into  a  grip 
for  himself?  But  he  was  glad  of  company. 

"  You  can  help,"  he  added,  and  took  a  couple  of 
steps  in  the  direction  of  the  bureau,  with  the  idea 
of  taking  things  out  of  drawers. 

"  Oh,  don't  bother,  sir !  "  said  Simpson  quickly. 
In  his  tone  there  was  something  subtly  patronising. 
For  he  who  has  been  a  butler  and  a  waiter  and  a 
valet  among  the  real  elite  feels  even  himself  to  be 
socially  superior  to  the  unbutlered  and  unvaleted. 

"  Simpson,"  said  Merriam  suddenly,  "  you've 
seen  Jennie ! " 

Simpson  stopped  absolutely  still  for  a  moment 
with  a  couple,  of  folded  shirts  in  his  hands.  Then 
he  placed  the  shirts  in  the  suit  case,  straightened 
up,  and  looked  at  Merriam. 

"  Yes,  Mr." — he  hesitated  and  decided  to  use  the 
real  name — "yes,  Mr.  Merriam,  I  have.  I  went 
out  there  $iis  morning,  as  you  suggested." 

"  She  let  you  in?  " 

"  Yes,  she  did.  She  let  me  sit  down  on  the  sofa 
with  her,  and  we  had  a  long  talk.  I  ended  by  ask- 
ing her  again  to  marry  me — and  she  said  she 
would." 

"  And  she  kissed  you ! "  Merriam  cried  gaily. 
He  had  for  the  moment  forgotten  his  own  troubles 
in  Simpson's  happiness,  for  which  he  rightly  felt 
he  might  claim  some  credit,  and  in  an  appreciative 
recollection  of  Jennie's  temperament.  Within  a 
dozen  hours  she  had  also  kissed  Crockett  and  him- 
self. But  Jennie  was  born  to  kiss. 


BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR      309 

Simpson  looked  quickly  at  the  younger  man  and 
returned  to  his  packing.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "she 
did." 

Merriam  regretted  his  exclamation,  which  had, 
in  fact,  told  too  much.  For  several  minutes  he 
watched  in  silence  the  deft,  efficient  work  of  his 
companion.  Then  he  asked: 

"  When  is  it  to  be?  " 

"  The  wedding,  sir?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  As  soon  as  you  and  Mr.  Rockwell  can  spare  me, 
sir." 

Simpson  closed  the  hand  bag,  closed  the  suit  case 
and  strapped  it. 

"  Is  there  anything  else  I  can  do,  sir?  " 

"  I  believe  not." 

The  waiter  hesitated.  Then  he  decided  to  speak 
what  was  in  his  heart : 

"  I  am  very  greatly  indebted  to  you,  sir,"  he  said, 
with  an  admirable  combination  of  dignity  and  feel- 
ing. "  You  have  made  a  happy  man  of  a  very 
wretched  one  and  have — saved  a  young  girl  who 
was  on  a  very  wrong  track.  If  ever  I  can  render 
you  any  service,  you  can  always  command  me,  sir." 

Merriam  sprang  up  and  advanced,  holding  out 
his  hand. 

"  I'm  tremendously  glad,"  he  said.  "  I  have  ac- 
complished one  thing  anyway  with  all  this  miser- 
able imposture." 

Simpson  shook  his  hand  heartily.     Then: 

"  Shall  I  leave  you  now,  sir?  " 


31p      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAKD 

"  Why,  yes,  please,"  said  Merriam.  He  was  loath 
to  be  left  alone,  but  there  was  clearly  nothing  more 
to  be  said  between  him  and  Simpson. 

In  a  moment  the  waiter  had  withdrawn  through 
the  door  into  the  Senator's  bedroom.  Merriam's 
thoughts  followed  him  into  that  room,  where  Mollie 
June  doubtless  still  sat  by  her  husband's  bed. 

But  just  then  a  knock  sounded  at  the  hall  door. 
He  looked  up  startled.  He  was  not  expecting  any 
one  to  approach  from  that  direction.  Who  could 
have  any  business  with  "Mr.  Wilson"? 

Another  knock.  Merriam  hesitated.  Should  he 
go  to  the  door,  or  simply  sit  tight  till  the  knocker 
became  convinced  that  there  was  no  one  within  and 
went  away?  He  decided  upon  the  latter  course. 
Any  one  whom  he  ought  to  see  Kockwell  would 
bring  to  him. 

A  third  time  the  knock  sounded,  discreet  but  per- 
sistent. Then  suddenly  a  key  was  inserted  in  the 
lock  and  turned,  the  door  opened,  and  in  stepped — 
Crockett ! 

Merriam  sprang  to  his  feet  but  did  not  speak. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Crockett  over  his  shoulder — 
to  whom  Merriam  could  not  see. 

He  closed  the  door  and  advanced : 

"Is  it  Mr.  Wilson?"  he  asked  ironically,  "or 
Mr.  Merriam — or  Senator  Norman?  " 

"Is  it  Mr.  Crockett,  the  financier,  or  a  house- 
breaker? "  Merriam  retorted. 

Mr.  Crockett  laughed,  but  it  was  an  unpleasant, 
forced  laugh. 


"  Since  you  do  not  answer  my  question,"  he  said, 
"  I  don't  see  that  I  need  answer  yours.  See  here," 
he  continued,  with  a  change  of  tone,  "  how  much  is 
it  worth  to  you  to  turn  over  to  me  those  pictures 
you  took  last  night — films  and  all,  of  course — and 
get  out  of  this?  " 

"You  won't  accomplish  anything  by  insulting 
me!"  cried  Merriam,  a  flare  of  youthful  anger 
somewhat  impairing  his  dignity. 

"  Insulting  you ! "  echoed  Crockett  sneeringly. 
"My  dear  sir,  as  a  complete  impostor  you  can 
hardly  expect  to  get  away  with  that  pose.  I'll  ad- 
mit you're  good  at  it.  That  impersonation  of  the 
Senator  before  the  Urban  Club  this  noon  was  a 
masterpiece.  But  what's  the  game?  Does  Rock- 
well really  suppose  he  can  swing  Senator  Norman 
over  permanently  to  the  so-called  Reformers?  Let 
me  tell  you  that  as  soon  as  the  real  Norman  is  on 
his  feet  again  Thompson  and  I  and  the  rest  of  us 
will  get  hold  of  him  and  bring  him  around  in  no 
time.  We  know  too  many  things  about  your  hand- 
some Boy  Senator.  He  can't  shake  us  now.  So 
what's  the  use?  Unless,"  he  added  suddenly,  "the 
plan  is  to  kill  him  off  and  substitute  you  perma- 
nently!" 

"Hardly  so  desperate  as  that,"  said  Merriam, 
smiling.  The  other  man's  long  speech  had  given 
Rim  time  to  recover  himself. 

"  Well,  then,  why  not  make  a  good  thing  out  of  it 
for  yourself  and  get  away  while  you  can?  It  isn't 
as  if  no  one  had  suspected  you.  /  not  only  suspect 


312      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

but  know.  I  haven't  told  any  one  else  yet,  but  you 
can  hardly  expect  me  to  keep  your  secret  indefi- 
nitely." 

"You  forget  the  pictures,"  said  Merriam,  as 
sweetly  as  he  could. 

Crockett  obviously  mastered  a  "  damn "  and 
chased  the  expression  that  rose  to  accompany  it 
from  his  face. 

"  Let's  keep  to  business,"  he  said.  "  How  much 
is  Rockwell  paying  you  for  this  job?  " 

"  No  monetary  consideration  has  been  mentioned 
between  us,"  said  Merriam.  It  was  the  truth,  of 
course,  but  perhaps  he  need  not  have  been  so  stilted 
about  it. 

"You  surely  don't  expect  me  to  believe  that. 
Come!  Whatever  the  amount  is,  I'll  double  it. 
All  I  ask  of  you  is,  first,  to  hand  over  to  me  the 
pictures,  and,  second,  to  pick  up  your  bags,  which 
I  see  are  already  packed,  and  walk  out  of  that  door 
with  me.  We'll  step  across  the  street  to  my  bank, 
I'll  pay  you  the  sum  in  cash,  and  you  can  skidoo. 
No  exposure  is  involved,  you  see — of  you  or  your 
friends.  I'm  not  revengeful.  I  don't  need  to  be. 
All  I  have  to  do  is  to  wait  until  I  can  get  hold  of 
Norman.  In  the  meantime  you  get  clear  of  a  situa- 
tion that  otherwise  is  likely  to  prove  very  nasty  for 
you  personally  and  very  nasty  likewise  for  your 
Reformer  associates.  You  will  note  that  I  trust  to 
your  honour  to  give  me  all  the  copies  of  the  pictures 
and  not  to  sting  me  on  the  amount  I  am  to  pay 
you." 


BUSINESS  OP  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR      313 

"  Honour  among  thieves?  "  queried  Merriam. 

"  Who's  insulting  now?  "  Crockett  demanded. 

"I  am,"  said  Merriam.  "At  least,  I'm  trying 
my  best  to  be.  Mr.  Crockett,  you  spoke  of  walking 
out  of  that  door.  I'll  thank  you  to  do  that  very 
thing — at  once !  If  you  don't,  I'll  call  in  Mr.  Rock- 
well,  and  we'll  put  you  out.  I'm  tempted  to  try  it 
by  myself,  but  I  don't  care  to  risk  any  noisy  scuf- 
fling." 

"  Prudent  young  man ! "  sneered  Crockett,  re- 
treating nevertheless  in  the  direction  of  the  hall 
door.  "  I  understand  that  you  reject  my  offer?  " 

"  I  certainly  do." 

"  Very  good.  I  hereby  serve  notice  on  you  that 
I  shall  immediately  expose  the  whole  of  your  at- 
rocious masquerade!  It  will  be  the  ruin  of  you 
and  Rockwell  and  Norman  and  Mayor  Black  and 
every  other  person  who  has  been  mixed  up  in  it. 
Oh,  you'll  be  a  nine  days'  wonder  in  the  city,  but 
no  one  of  you  will  ever  have  a  scrap  of  public  credit 
again ! " 

"  And  on  the  following  day,"  retorted  Merriam, 
"  those  pretty  pictures  we  know  of  will  be  published 
in  Tidbits.  They'll  be  running  sketches  called 
'A  Financier  in  a  Flat'  in  every  music  hall  in 
town." 

"  You  blackmailer ! " 

"  On  the  contrary  you've  tried  to  get  me  to  take 
blackmail  and  I've  refused  it." 

With  a  sound  remarkably  like  the  snarling 
"  bah  "  which  regularly  accompanies  the  retreat  of 


314      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

the  foiled  villain  of  melodrama,  Crockett  turned 
towards  the  door  through  which  he  had  been  in- 
vited to  depart.  But  in  the  course  of  the  three  or 
four  steps  which  he  had  to  take  to  reach  that  exit 
he  recovered  something  of  his  dignity  and  finesse. 

Having  opened  the  door,  he  turned  and  bowed 
ironically. 

"  Good  evening,  Senator,"  he  said.  "  I'm  afraid 
I  shall  be  prevented  from  keeping  my  appointment 
with  you  at  eight.  If  you  should  change  your 
mind  within  the  next  half  hour,  you  can  reach  me 
by  'phone  at  the  Union  League.  Otherwise,  look 
out!" 

On  this  warning  note  he  closed  the  door  behind 
him. 

Merriam  found  himself  with  a  whirling  brain. 
As  a  quiet  pedagogue  he  was  not  accustomed  to 
scenes  of  battle  such  as  he  had  just  passed  through. 
He  walked  up  and  down  and  mechanically  lit  a 
cigarette. 

As  he  did  so,  his  mind  seized  upon  one  question. 
Who  had  unlocked  the  door  for  Crockett?  Some 
chambermaid  or  bell  boy?  Or  the  floor  clerk?  At 
any  rate  it  must  have  been  done  with  her  conniv- 
ance and  by  her  authority,  for  she  was  the  com- 
manding general  of  Floor  Three.  Why  had  she 
done  or  permitted  this  outrageous  thing?  Sud- 
denly Merriam  recalled  her  studied  ignoring  of 
him  on  the  last  two  occasions  of  his  passing 
her  desk,  and  compared  it  with  her  whispered 
"  The  violets  are  lovely  "  when  he  first  asked  for 


BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR      315 

Senator  Norman's  key.  There  had  been  something 
between  her  and  Norman.  He,  Merriam,  in  taking 
on  the  Senator's  role  had  dropped  out  that  part  of 
it,  and  she  was  offended.  How  seriously  he  could 
not  tell. 

He  concluded  that  he  must  attempt  to  reinstate 
himself — Norman — in  the  pretty  floor  clerk's  good 
graces,  and  rather  hastily  decided  upon  a  plan.  He 
went  to  the  telephone  and  asked  for  the  hotel 
florist.  How  much  were  violets?  Well,  they  had 
some  lovely  large  bunches  for  five  dollars.  This 
figure  rather  staggered  the  rural  pedagogue,  but 
he  promptly  asked  to  have  one  of  those  bunches 
sent  up  at  once  to  "  Mr.  Wilson,"  giving  his  room 
number,  325.  He  would  present  his  peace  offering 
in  person.  "I  am  sure  these  flowers  will  look 
lovely  on  your  desk — or  if  you  will  wear  them  at 
your  waist?  "  he  would  say,  or  something  of  the 
sort.  This  was  probably  not  the  way  Senator  Nor- 
man would  have  done — he  would  have  run  no  such 
open  risk, — but  we  must  make  allowances  for  Mer- 
riam's  inexperience. 

But  he  never  carried  out  his  ill-conceived  plan. 
For  he  had  barely  left  the  telephone  when  he  was 
arrested  by  a  light  knock  on  the  door  leading  into 
the  Senator's  bedroom.  This  time  he  was  sure  it 
was  Mollie  June,  and  he  was  right. 

When  he  opened  the  door  she  stood  there  with 
a  finger  at  her  lips. 

"  Aunt  Mary  has  taken  my  place  with  George," 
she  said  in  a  low  tone.  "  She  says  I  may  give  you 


316      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

some  tea.  It  will  be  late  before  you  can  get  your 
dinner  on  the  train.  Would  you  like  it?  " 

"  Tremendously,"  said  Merriam  sincerely. 

"  Come  into  the  sitting  room,  then." 

She  crossed  the  sick  room  to  the  door  at  the  other 
side  which  led  to  the  sitting  room,  and  he  followed, 
with  a  nod  to  Aunt  Mary,  who  now  sat  by  the 
sleeping  Senator's  bed. 

Arrived  in  the  sitting  room,  he  was  further  de- 
lighted to  find  that  neither  Kockwell  nor  Simpson 
was  present.  It  was  to  be  a  genuine  tete-a-tete. 
By  one  of  the  windows  stood  a  small  table  with  the 
tea  things  upon  it,  the  kettle  already  singing  over 
an  alcohol  flame.  Beside  the  table  stood  a  large 
armchair  and  a  small  rocker. 

"  The  big  chair  is  for  you,"  said  Mollie  June, 
seating  herself  in  the  rocker  and  adjusting  the 
flame. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  said  and  sat.  Then  a  mingling 
of  pleasure  and  embarrassment  held  him  awk- 
wardly silent. 

Mollie  June  was  apparently  quite  composed. 

"  George  is  ever  so  much  better,"  ^he  said.  "  He 
was  awake  a  few  minutes  ago,  and  he  seemed  almost 
well.  He  ha^  only  a  very  little  f^ver  left." 

She  smiled  brightly  at  Merriam,  who  dimly  real- 
ised that  ft  was  to  the  fact  that  her  mind  was  now 
at  ease  about  her  husband  that  he  owed  this 
treat. 

Mollie  June  set  a  brightly  flowered  cup  on  a 
saucer  to  match  and  placed  a  small  spoon  beside  it. 


BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR     317 

Then  she  took  up  the  sugar  tongs,  and  her  hand 
hovered  over  the  bowl. 

"  One  lump  or  two?  " 

"  Two,  please,"  said  Merriam,  noting  the  slender- 
ness  and  whiteness  of  the  fingers  that  held  the 
tongs  and  the  pinkness  of  the  small  nails.  (Why 
else  except  to  display  charming  fingers  and  nails 
were  sugar  tongs  invented?) 

"  Lemon  or  cream?  " 

Merriam  was  sophisticated  enough  to  know  that 
the  right  answer  was  "Lemon,"  but  he  preferred 
cream,  and  an  admirable  instinct  of  honesty  led 
him  to  say  so. 

Through  the  open  window  came  the  pleasant  air 
of  the  spring  afternoon.  The  canyon-like  street 
without,  being  an  east-and-west  street,  was  flooded 
with  sunlight.  With  the  breeze  there  entered  also 
the  stimulating  roar  of  the  city's  lively  traffic.  The 
breeze  stirred  Mollie  June's  soft  wavy  hair.  It 
also  caused  the  alcohol  flame  under  the  brass  kettle 
to  flutter  and  sputter,  and  Mollie  June  leaned  for- 
ward to  regulate  it.  The  youthful  firmness  of  her 
cheeks  and  chin  showed  like  a  lovely  cameo  in  the 
bright  light,  which  would  have  been  unkind  to  an 
older  face.  Having  adjusted  the  flame,  she  sud- 
denly looked  up  at  Merriam  and  smiled. 

"  Mollie  June,"  he  cried,  "  there  is  nothing  love- 
lier in  the  world  than  your  eyes  when  you  look  up 
and  smile  like  that !  " 

He  had  not  meant  to  say  anything  of  that  sort, 
but  it  was  forced  out  of  him. 


318      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Mollie  June's  smile  lingered,  and  the  cameo  be- 
came faintly,  charmingly  tinted.  But  she  evi- 
dently felt  that  some  rebuke  was  needed. 

"Mrs.  Mollie  June,  you  must  remember,"  she 
said  gently. 

Then,  taking  up  her  cup  and  leaning  back  in  her 
small  rocker,  she  asked: 

"  How  did  you  get  along  with  the  speeches?  " 

"Not  very  well,"  said  Merriam.  He  hesitated 
in  his  mind  whether  to  tell  her  of  Crockett's  inter- 
ruption but  decided  not  to.  It  would  take  too  long 
— he  could  not  waste  the  precious  minutes  so. 
"I'll  have  the  dickens  of  a  time  with  them,"  he 
added. 

"  Oh,  no,  you  won't ! "  she  cried,  as  if  shocked  at 
the  idea.  "  You  were  wonderful  this  noon.  I  was 
so  proud  of  you." 

"  You  had  a  right  to  be,"  said  Merriam.  "  It  was 
because  you  were  there  that  I  could  do  well." 
Which  was  perhaps  partially  true. 

"Why  don't  you  go  into  it  yourself?"  asked 
Mollie  June. 

"  Public  life?  Perhaps  I  will.  I  may  go  back 
to  the  University  for  a  law  course  and  then  try  to 
get  into  politics." 

This  plan  had  just  occurred  to  Merriam,  but  he 
did  not  disclose  that  fact.  In  uttering  one's  in- 
spirations to  a  pretty  woman  one  usually  presents 
them  as  though  they  were  the  fruit  of  mature  con- 
sideration. 

"  That  would  be  fine,"  said  Mollie  June  without 


BUSINESS  OF  BEING  AN  IMPOSTOR      319 

muck  enthusiasm.  "But  you'll  be  at  Riceville 
next  year?  " 

"  I  suppose  so.     I'll  have  to  save  up  a  bit  more." 

"  I  may  be  at  home  for  Christmas,"  she  said. 
"  I'll  see  you  then." 

Merriam  considered  this  painfully. 

"  No,"  he  said  at  last  slowly.  "  I  shan't  be  there. 
I  shall  be  away  for  the  holidays." 

"  You  could  stay  over,"  said  Mollie  June,  won- 
deringly  reproachful. 

"  I  suppose  I  could.  But  I -mustn't.  Just  to  see 
you — publicly,  is  too  hard  on  me.  And  if  I  see 
you  alone  like  this, — I  say  things  I  oughtn't  to — 
make  love  to  you." 

Mollie  June  sat  drooping,  with  downcast  eyes, 
her  cup  in  her  lap. 

Suddenly  he  was  on  his  knees  beside  her.  He 
put  his  arms  about  her,  to  the  great  peril  of  flow- 
ered china. 

"  Mollie  June !  "  he  whispered.  He  softly  kissed 
her  cheek. 

She  raised  her  eyes  and  looked  deep  into  his. 

"  John !  "  she  whispered  back,  though  she  seemed 
to  struggle  not  to  do  so. 

After  a  moment  he  smiled  sadly  and  got  to  his 
feet. 

"  I  mustn't  have  any  more  tea,"  he  said,  as  if  that 
beverage  was  too  intoxicating,  as  indeed  under  the 
circumstances  it  was. 

Fortunately — since  of  all  things  what  they 
needed  was  a  diversion, — Merriam  at  that  moment 


became  conscious  of  a  portentous  knocking  on  a 
distant  door.  He  realised  that  it  was  on  the  door 
to  "  Mr.  Wilson's "  room  and  remembered.  The 
flowers — for  the  floor  clerk ! 

He  hurried  to  the  hall  and  called  the  boy  from 
the  second  door  down  the  corridor,  where  he  was 
about  to  pound  again. 

In  a  moment  he  reentered  the  room,  bearing  a 
lovely  great  bunch  of  fragrant  English  violets — 
and  thinking  hard.  But  he  was  equal  to  the 
emergency. 

He  advanced  to  Mollie  June,  who  stood  now  with 
her  back  to  the  window,  her  slender  form  outlined 
against  the  light,  her  face  in  shadow. 

"  I've  never  given  you  anything,  Mollie  June,"  he 
said.  "These  are  for  you — and  the  sick  room." 
He  held  them  for  her  to  smell. 

She  took  them  from  him,  barely  touching  his 
hand  as  she  did  so,  and  buried  her  face  in  them  for 
a  long  minute.  Then  she  raised  her  eyes  to  him 
over  them. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  John,"  she  said  with,  a  sad 
smile. 

And  just  then  Aunt  Mary  entered  from  the 
Senator's  bedroom. 

"  See  what  Mr.  Merriam  has  ordered  for 
George ! "  said  Mollie  June.  "  Isn't  he  thought- 
ful?" 

"  Very,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  in  her  customary  dry 
tone. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  CODE  TELEGRAM 

ROCKWELL  had  returned  with  Alicia.     He 
briskly  declared  that  it  was  time  to  start  for 
the  train.     Mayor  Black,  it  appeared,  was  below  in 
his  car  and  was  going  to  the  station  with  them. 

"  I've  told  Simpson  to  take  your  bags  down.  Ex- 
cept the  portfolio.  You'd  better  keep  that  in  your 
own  hands.  What  progress  with  the  speeches?  " 

"  Not  much,"  said  Merriam.  "  But  I  shall  have 
the  whole  evening  on  the  train.  I'll  get  them." 

He  crossed  the  sick  room,  where  Dr.  Hobart  was 
now  bending  over  the  Senator,  apparently  making 
an  examination.  He  thrust  the  pile  of  manuscripts 
back  into  the  port  >lio.  Then,  after  a  glance  about 
the  room,  remini  jent  of  his  burglarious  entry  the 
night  before,  he  caught  up  his  coat  and  hat  and 
returned  to  the  sitting  re-  m  again. 

"Are  we  ready?  "  he  ;    ked  of  Rockwell. 

"  Waiting  for  Hobart  -for  a  final  report  on  the 
Senator's  condition." 

"Aren't  you  coming  to  the  station  with  us,  Mollie 
June?  "  Alicia  was  saying. 

"No,"  said  Mollie  June,  her  eyes  on  a  large 
bunch  of  violets  which  she  was  arranging  in  a  bowl. 
"  I  must  stay  with  my  husband." 

321 


322      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  But  Aunt  Mary  will  be  here.  I  think  she  owes 
it  to  you  to  come  with  us,  don't  you,  Mr.  Mer- 
riam?" 

"No,"  said  Merriam,  "I  think  she  is  right  in 
staying." 

Alicia  looked  from  him  to  Mollie  June,  then 
shrugged  her  shoulders  and  turned  to  Rockwell, 
who  was  cautioning  Aunt  Mary — as  if  Aunt  Mary 
ever  needed  cautioning! — about  maintaining  the 
closest  possible  guard  on  the  Senator's  rooms  in 
their  absence. 

Merriam  moved  to  Mollie  June's  side. 

"  I  shan't  see  you  again,"  he  said. 

"  No,"  said  Mollie  June. 

For  a  single  moment  she  looked  up  from  the 
flowers  into  his  face.  Her  eyes  held  tears,  and  she 
blushed  slightly.  In  her  look  he  read  unwilling 
love  and  shame. 

He  would  have  moved  away,  impotently  miser- 
able^,  but  her  hand,  which  had  dropped  to  her  side 
between  them,  suddenly  touched  his,  closed  in  his 
for  an  instant,  and  was  withdrawn,  leaving  some- 
thing—something very  small,  cool,  and  fragile — a 
single  violet. 

He  understood,  of  course,  that  it  was  to  be  his 
souvenir  of  her,  all  he  could  have  of  her,  through 
the  long  years  to  come  while  she  played  out  her 
loathsome  role  as  the  wife  of  the  dissipated  Boy 
Senator  and  he  taught  school  at  Eiceville  or — what 
did  it  matter  what  he  did? 

His  hand  closed  quickly  on  the  violet,  and  he 


THE  CODE  TELEGRAM  323 

turned  to  face  Dr.  Hobart,  who  was  just  entering 
from  the  sick  room. 

The  physician  was  highly  reassuring.  The  Sen- 
ator was  doing  very  well  indeed. 

"  He'll  be  able  to  meet  us  in  Springfield,  then,  to- 
morrow night?  "  demanded  Kockwell. 

"I  think  he'll  be  well  enough  to  do  that,"  re- 
turned Hobart,  with  a  slight  evasiveness  which 
Rockwell  and  Merriam  had  occasion  a  few  hours 
later  to  recall  with  some  vividness.  But  at  the 
moment  they  scarcely  noticed  it. 

"Good!"  cried  Eockwell.  "We're  oft.  No! 
Wait." 

He  drew  a  folded  paper  from  his  pocket  and 
handed  it  to  Aunt  Mary. 

"  This  paper  describes  a  simple  form  of  code  tele- 
gram. Use  it  in  your  messages  to  us  in  regard  to 
the  Senator's  progress  and  when  and  where  he  is 
to  join  us.  You'll  wire  at  least  once  a  day,  of 
course." 

"  Yes,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  accepting  the  paper. 

Merriam  shook  hands  with  Aunt  Mary. 

"  I  hope,"  she  said,  "  that  some  day,  after  all  this 
is  over,  we  may  be  able  to  have  you  visit  us,  when 
George  can  thank  you  for  the  inestimable  service 
you  have  rendered  him." 

"I  should  be  delighted,"  Merriam  murmured, 
though  he  had  no  great  mind  to  be  thanked  by 
George  Norman. 

Then  he  shook  hands  with  Mollie  June  and  met 
her  eyes  for  a  moment,  but,  under  the  gaze  of  Aunt 


324      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Mary  and  Eockwell  and  Alicia,  "  Good-bye,"  was 
all  he  could  say. 

"Good-bye.  Thank  you  for — everything,"  she 
replied,  and  her  eyes  followed  his  figure  as  Eock- 
well swept  him  from  the  room. 

The  closing  of  the  door  of  the  Senator's  sitting 
room  upon  Merriam  marked  the  beginning  of  a 
period  of  a  dozen  hours  or  more  that  was  utterly 
phantasmal  and  unreal  to  him  both  at  the  time  and 
in  his  recollection  afterwards.  He  seemed  to  move 
and  speak  and  act  without  volition  and  without 
any  clear  realisation  of  what  he  was  doing  or  why 
he  was  doing  it. 

After  dinner  with  Eockwell  and  Mr.  Wayward — 
an  excellent  meal  served  in  the  private  car  by  an 
amiable  gentleman  of  colour,  Merriam  read  the 
speech  which  he  was  to  deliver  at  Cairo  in  the 
morning,  and  then  had  to  pull  himself  together  and 
commit  that  speech,  but  he  did  even  this  mechanic- 
ally. And  finally  to  bed  in  his  compartment,  at 
first  to  a  long,  uneasy  dream,  in  which  he  appeared 
to  be  making  an  interminable  speech  to  an  audience 
consisting  of  Mollie  June,  Jennie,  an  inattentive 
floor  clerk,  Aunt  Mary,  and  Simpson,  and  then  to  a 
heavy  slumber,  from  which  he  was  roused  with  dif- 
ficulty the  next  morning. 

In  the  morning  it  was  the  same  way  with  him — 
everything  dully  unreal.  Breakfast.  Going  over 
the  speech  again.  Then  it  was  nine  o'clock,  and 
the  train  was  running  into  Cairo.  A  crowd  at  the 
station.  A  cheer  or  two.  He  was  being  assisted 


THE  CODE  TELEGRAM  325 

into  an  automobile.  A  sort  of  procession  with  a 
band  through,  several  blocks  of  streets  to  a  small 
park. 

Merriain  found  himself  sitting  with  Rockwell 
und  3Ir.  Wayward  and  several  local  notables  in  a 
band  stand,  with  a  considerable  concourse  of  peo- 
ple sitting  and  standing  about  on  the  grass  below. 
Some  native  orator  made  a  short  speech.  A  num- 
ber by  the  band.  Then  the  Mayor  of  Cairo  was 
effusively  introducing  Senator  Norman.  The 
Mayor  sat  down  amid  applause. 

Merriam  rose,  advanced  to  the  rail,  and  began 
on  his  speech.  He  felt  himself  to  be  a  sort  of  ani- 
mated phonograph.  The  words  which  he  had 
learned  the  night  before  and  reviewed  that  morning 
ran  trippingly  off  his  tongue.  His  collegiate  train- 
ing and  subsequent  experience  in  public  speaking 
came  to  the  aid  of  his  subconscious  self,  which 
seemed  to  be  functioning  with  practically  no  direc- 
tion from  his  higher  centers.  He  turned  pleas- 
antly as  he  spoke  to  face  now  one  part  of  his 
circle  of  auditors  and  now  another.  He  suited 
his  tone  to  the  words  in  different  parts  of  the 
speech.  He  even  achieved  an  occasional  appropri- 
ate gesture. 

At  last  he  came  to  the  end  of  what  he  had  learned 
and  stopped  as  the  phonograph  stops  when  the  end 
of  a  record  is  reached.  And  for  a  moment  he  stood 
there  by  the  rail,  blank,  at  a  loss — as  a  phonograph 
would  have  stood.  He  had  to  rouse  himself  with  a 
jerk  of  conscious  attention  before  he  perceived  that 


326      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

what  lie  had  to  do  next  was  to  step  back  and  sit 
down. 

The  applause  was  fairly  satisfactory.  The 
Mayor  of  Cairo  leaned  across  Rockwell  to  shake 
hands  and  congratulate  him,  and  Mr.  Wayward,  on 
the  other  side,  patted  his  shoulder  and  said,  "  Good 
enough ! "  And  the  band  struck  into  a  patriotic 
air. 

Merriam  awoke.  It  was  as  if  lights  had  been 
turned  on  and  doors  opened.  He  realised  that  it 
was  a  bright,  sunny  morning,  that  a  band  was  play- 
ing, that  he,  John  Merriam,  was  alive  and  young, 
and  that  he  was  having  a  whimsically  glorious 
adventure  which  he  could  not  afford  to  miss  the  joy 
of  even  if  Mollie  June  was  Senator  Norman's  wife. 

In  this  rejuvenated  mood  he  joyously  descended 
with  the  others  from  the  band  stand  and  climbed 
into  the  automobile  and  lay  back  happily,  between 
Rockwell  and  the  Cairo  Mayor,  to  relish  the  slow 
processional  drive — still  preceded  by  the  band — 
back  to  the  station. 

"  Feeling  better?  "  asked  Rockwell,  who  had  not 
failed  to  note  his  previous  lethargy. 

"  Feeling  fine ! "  he  replied,  and  gave  his  atten- 
tion to  the  scenery  of  Cairo's  Main  Street  and  the 
crowds  therein,  waiting  eagerly  for  a  glimpse  of 
the  remarkable  Boy  Senator. 

As  the  automobile  passed  close  to  the  curb  on 
turning  a  corner,  Merriam  caught  one  remark : 

"  He  does  look  just  like  a  young  man !  " 

The  speaker  was  a  decidedly  pretty  girl  in  a  bold- 


THE  CODE  TELEGRAM  327 

ish  sort  of  way.  Merriam  sensed  and  seized  upon 
the  privileges  of  age.  He  leaned  forward : 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear,"  he  said.  "  At  least  I'm 
young  enough  to  know  a  pretty  girl  when  I  see 
one." 

Which  incident  will  serve  to  show  that  Merriam 
was  really  awake  again.  Also,  it  probably  won 
more  votes  for  Senator  Norman's  party  at  the  next 
election  than  the  whole  of  Aunt  Mary's  able  speech 
as  delivered  by  the  human  phonograph  a  few  min- 
utes earlier. 

They  reached  the  station  and  regained  the  pri- 
vate car.  Merriam  sank  into  a  wonderful  armchair 
in  the  sitting  room  compartment,  glanced  about 
him  at  the  luxurious  appointments,  and  lit  a  ciga- 
rette with  gusto. 

"  I  shouldn't  mind  this  riches-and-fame  business 
for  quite  a  while,"  he  thought.  (Mollie  June  was 
for  the  time  forgotten;  thus  it  is  with  the  fickle 
male. ) 

Eockwell  had  sat  down  in  the  next  chair.  Mer- 
riam made  an  effort  of  memory. 

"  East  St.  Louis  next?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  Eockwell.  "We'll  have  to  get  at 
the  speech  as  soon  as  the  train  starts." 

Just  then  a  small  but  vociferous  urchin  appeared 
in  the  door  of  the  car.  His  cap  proclaimed  him  a 
telegraph  messenger. 

"  Telegram  for  Mr.  Eockwell ! "  he  shouted,  as 
though  Mr.  Eockwell  were  probably  in  the  next 
county. 


Rockwell  signed  the  book,  and  the  lad  slowly 
withdrew  himself,  taking  generous  eyefuls  of  Rock- 
well, "  Senator  Norman,"  and  the  private  car.  As 
he  lingered  with  a  last  backward  stare  in  the  door- 
way, Merriam  winked  at  him,  and  the  boy  grinned 
and  generously,  democratically  winked  back. 

Turning  from  that  wink  to  Rockwell,  Merriam 
was  startled.  The  man  sat  limp  with  the  telegram 
on  his  knee  and  a  pencil  in  his  hand.  I  will  not  say 
he  was  pale,  but  certainly  he  was  haggard. 

He  handed  the  telegram  to  Merriam. 

Merriam  tried  to  read  it,  but  could  make  no 
sense  at  all.  It  was  very  long  but  apparently  a 
mere  string  of  words  with  little  intelligible  mean- 
ing. 

"  What ?  "  he  began. 

"  It's  code,"  said  Rockwell.  "  I've  underlined 
the  words  that  count." 

Picking  out  the  significant  words  by  means  of 
Rockwell's  underlining,  Merriam  read: 

George  kidnapped  from  rooms  whereabouts  un- 
known doctor  disappeared  cancel  trip  return  Mary. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


A  MOMENT   later   Mr.   Wayward,   who  had 
stopped  at  the  station  cigar  stand  to  replen- 
ish his  stock  of  nicotine,  rejoined  them  and  was 
shown  the  telegram. 

His  first  comment  was  profane. 

"  We've  got  to  go  back,"  said  Rockwell.  "  Now 
that  they  have  Norman  in  their  power — for  Crock- 
ett is  behind  this,  of  course, — they  may  denounce 
us — may  make  Norman  himself  denounce  us — any 
minute.  They  have  no  end  of  a  grip  on  him,  and  he 
has  no  great  love  for  the  role  of  Reformer  him- 
self— nor  for  me.  Our  only  hope  is  to  get  back  to 
Chicago  and  find  him  and  get  hold  of  him  again." 
He  jumped  to  his  feet.  "I  must  see  the  station 
master  at  once." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Wayward,  "  there's  nothing  else 
for  it." 

Rockwell  hastily  departed  to  announce  their 
changed  plans  to  the  station  master,  and  Merriam 
and  Mr.  Wayward  looked  at  each  other.  The  lat- 
ter's  face  had  assumed  the  humorous  smile  which 
had  been  his  expression  towards  the  whole  affair 
from  the  beginning. 

"  It's  been  a  damn  fool  business  all  along,"  he 
said. 

329 


330      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  I  suppose  it  has,"  said  Merriam. 

"  Good  fun  for  you,  though."  Mr.  Wayward  lit 
a  cigar. 

"  Yes,"  Merriam  assented.  But  he  was  thinking 
of  something  else.  Back  to  Chicago !  The  young 
rascal  was  realising  that  that  meant  he  should  see 
Mollie  June  again. 

Mr.  Wayward  puffed  meditatively. 

" '  Doctor  disappeared,' "  he  quoted  from  the 
telegram.  "  That  means  Hobart  was  in  it.  Prob- 
ably he  was  the  chief  agent.  Crockett's  bribed 
him." 

Merriam  suddenly  remembered  the  tableau 
which  Kockwell  and  he  had  surprised  as  they 
stepped  out  of  the  elevator  at  the  Hotel  De  Soto 
on  the  previous  afternoon :  Dr.  Hobart  in  confiden- 
tial conference  with  the  floor  clerk. 

"  Probably  they  bribed  the  floor  clerk,  too,"  he 
said.  "  Hobart  seemed  to  be  sweet  on  her." 

"  So?  "  said  Mr.  Wayward.  And  after  a  min- 
ute's consideration:  "Very  likely.  They  could 
hardly  have  managed  without  the  floor  clerk,  in 
fact." 

Presently  he  added : 

"We've  got  to  go  back  all  right.  But  I  don't 
see  what  we  can  do  except  to  surrender." 

"We  still  have  my  pictures  of  Crockett  at 
Jennie's." 

"Well,  I  hope  so.  Unless  they've  bribed  Simp- 
son, too.  Those  pictures  are  one  of  the  things  that 
may  make  them  give  us  a  chance  to  surrender." 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  331 

The  two  men  smoked  in  silence  for  several  min- 
utes— until  Rockwell  returned. 

"  Well,  that's  fixed,"  he  announced.  "  There's  a 
north-bound  express  due  in  half  an  hour  and  re- 
ported on  time  that  will  take  us  into  Chicago  by 
nine  o'clock  to-night.  You're  sick,  of  course,  Sen- 
ator," he  added  to  Merriam.  "  Bronchitis  again !  " 

They  continued  to  talk  until  the  north-bound 
train  arrived  and  picked  up  their  car,  and  they 
were  started  on  their  return  trip. 

At  Carbondale  Rockwell  sent  off  telegrams  to  the 
several  cities  which  Merriam  was  to  have  visited, 
cancelling  Senator  Norman's  speaking  tour  on  ac- 
count of  a  renewed  attack  of  bronchitis.  He  also 
sent  a  message  in  code  to  Aunt  Mary,  giving  the 
hour  when  they  were  due  to  arrive. 

The  three  men  talked,  of  course,  but  they  had  so 
few  facts  to  go  on  that  they  could  only  formulate 
gloomy  speculations,  with  nothing  really  in  the  way 
of  definite  conclusion  beyond  what  Mr.  Wayward 
and  Merriam  had  reached  in  their  first  few  minutes 
of  chat  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  Aunt 
Mary's  message.  How  the  kidnapping  had  been 
managed  or  where  Norman  might  be,  they  simply 
could  not  tell. 

They  had  one  practical  point  to  decide,  namely, 
their  first  procedure  on  reaching  the  city.  It  was 
obviously  not  safe  for  "  Senator  Norman "  to  go 
directly  to  the  Hotel  De  Soto.  They  could  not  tell 
what  the  situation  there  might  be  since  the  kidnap- 
ping. It  was  finally  agreed  that  Rockwell  and 


332      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Merriam  should  leave  the  train  at  Fifty-Third 
Street  and  take  a  taxicab  to  Rockwell's  bachelor 
apartment  on  Drexel  Boulevard,  while  Mr.  Way- 
ward should  go  on  to  the  Twelfth  Street  Station 
and  thence  to  the  hotel  to  see  Aunt  Mary.  Their 
next  step  was  to  depend  on  what  he  learned  there. 
Rockwell  was  afraid  even  to  telephone  from  his 
apartment,  for  fear  the  wire  to  the  Senator's  suite 
might  be  tapped.  Merriam  was  not  keen  on  this 
arrangement  because  it  evidently  postponed  his  see- 
ing Mollie  June  and  might  even  prevent  his  doing 
so  altogether.  But  this  was' not  an  objection  which 
he  could  raise  in  the  discussion. 

At  last  they  were  running  into  the  City.  Fifty- 
Third  Street  was  reached,  and  Rockwell  and  Mer- 
riam shook  hands  with  Mr.  Wayward  and  de- 
scended from  the  private  car. 

Rockwell's  first  act  in  the  station  was  to  buy  an 
evening  paper.  He  scanned  the  sheet  anxiously, 
with  Merriam  looking  over  his  shoulder.  The  first 
page  carried  a  paragraph  reporting  the  abandon- 
ment of  Senator  Norman's  down-State  speaking 
tour  "on  account  of  a  return  of  his  bronchitis." 
Rockwell  had  sent  no  word  to  this  effect  to  any  one 
in  Chicago,  but  evidently  the  news  had  come  in 
from  some  one  or  more  of  the  towns  to  which  he 
had  wired  cancellations.  There  were,  however,  no 
headlines  in  regard  to  the  kidnapping  of  a  United 
States  Senator  from  one  of  the  city's  leading  hotels 
and  110  expose  of  their  imposture. 

"They're  still  keeping  it  dark,"  said  Rockwell, 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  333 

with  a  flash  of  renewed  hope  on  his  haggard  face. 
"  We're  going  to  have  a  chance  to  make  terms." 

A  moment  later  they  were  in  a  taxicab  bound  for 
his  apartment.  They  rode  in  silence.  Merriam 
wondered  if  he  should  see  Mollie  June  again — 
though  just  what  good  that  would  do  him.  or  what 
he  should  say  to  her  he  could  not  have  told. 

"  I  shall  see  her  once — alone,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"  whatever  happens.  I've  done  enough  for  them  to 
have  a  right  to  demand  that." 

And  on  that  scene  of  unhappy  farewell — for 
what  else  could  it  be? — his  thoughts  halted.  His 
mind  would  go  no  farther. 

The  taxicab  stopped,  and  they  got  out,  and  Mer- 
riam found  himself  in  front  of  a  decidedly  imposing 
apartment  building.  Kockwell  hurried  him 
through  a  sumptuous  entry  and  into  an  elevator. 
They  shot  up  three  flights.  Then  in  a  hallway 
Eockwell  unlocked  a  door,  and  they  entered  the 
sitting  room  of  his  apartment — a  large  room  in 
quiet  tones,  furnished  somewhat  in  the  taste  of  a 
good  men's  club. 

Merriam  sank  into  a  chair. 

"  Played  out?  "  asked  Rockwell,  standing  over 
him  and  speaking  in  his  old  manner  of  matter-of- 
fact  good  humour,  which  had  deserted  him  during 
that  trying  day. 

"  Yes,"  said  Merriam.  He  felt,  in  fact,  quite  ex- 
hausted, although  he  had  done  nothing  since  ten 
o'clock  that  morning  except  smoke  and  eat  two 
meals  and  wait. 


334      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  So  am  I,"  said  Rockwell,  "  and  we  must  get  fit 
again.  We  may  have  a  busy  night  ahead.  Sup- 
pose we  have  a  shower  and  then  coffee?  That'll 
brace  us  up." 

Three  quarters  of  an  hour  later,  the  two  men, 
much  refreshed  by  the  shock  of  cold  water  and  the 
odd  stimulation  which  always  follows  re-dressing 
in  fresh  clothes,  were  sitting  on  opposite  sides  of 
BockwelPs  writing  table,  waiting  for  an  electric 
percolator  to  "  perk,"  when  the  doorbell  rang. 

They  looked  at  each  other. 

"  Curtain  up  for  the  last  act,"  said  Rockwell  as 
he  went  to  answer  it. 

It  was  Mr.  Wayward  with  Aunt  Mary  and  Father 
Murray  and  Mayor  Black.  Mollie  June,  Merriam 
saw,  was  not  with  them. 

"  Come  in,"  said  Rockwell,  oddly  formal. 

Merriam,  as  he  rose,  noticed  the  change  in  Aunt 
Mary.  Always  before  she  had  seemed  a  creature 
of  no  age  at  all;  now  she  was  obviously  a  quite 
elderly  woman.  The  Mayor's  plump  face  was  gray 
and  drawn  with  anxiety.  Even  Mr.  Wayward 
looked  more  worried  than  he  had  seemed  all 
day. 

For  a  moment  the  four  of  them  stood  together 
just  inside  the  room,  staring  at  Merriam,  accus- 
ingly as  it  were,  as  if  he  had  been  the  cause  of  their 
trouble. 

But  Rockwell,  having  closed  the  door,  turned  and 
after  one  glance  at  the  group  spoke  loudly,  with 
exaggerated  briskness : 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  335 

"  Sit  down,  all  of  you— and  tell  me.  You'll  find 
tliis  a  comfortable  chair,  Aunt  Mary.  Over  there, 
Mayor.  You're  at  home  here,  Wayward." 

Father  Murray  took  Aunt  Mary's  arm  and  led 
her  to  the  chair  Eockwell  had  indicated.  Solemnly 
they  all  sat  down. 

Rockwell  was  both  daunted  and  impatient.  After 
another  look  at  Aunt  Mary,  he  turned  to  the  Mayor : 

"  When  did  it  happen?  " 

But  before  the  Mayor  could  reply,  Aunt  Mary 
spoke  up.  She  was  not  so  far  gone  as  she  looked. 

"  Between  five  minutes  after  eight  and  half  past 
nine  this  morning,"  she  said.  "  Mollie  June  and  I 
had  gone  downstairs  for  breakfast  in  the  Wedge- 
wood  Room  and  then  for  a  short  walk — over  to 
Michigan  Avenue  and  back.  Dr.  Hobart  suggested 
both.  He  said  we  ought  to  get  out  that  much  be- 
fore we  settled  down  for  the  day  in  the  rooms,  and 
that  he  would  stay  with  George  till  we  returned. 
He  said  that  George  was  much  better,  and  he  looked 
better.  When  we  got  back — it  was  exactly  half 
past  nine, — both  he  and  George  were  gone." 

Aunt  Mary  paused  for  an  instant  on  this  dis- 
astrous climax. 

"  We  were  terribly  upset,"  she  continued.  "  We 
could  hardly  believe  our  senses.  Mollie  June  cried, 
and  at  first  I  could  not  think  what  I  ought  to  do. 
But  presently  I  had  mind  enough  to  telephone  for 
Mayor  Black  and  Father  Murray,  and  by  the  time 
they  came  I  was  calm  enough  to  think  quietly  and 
join  them  in  making  plans." 


336      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  You  were  wonderful,"  said  Father  Murray. 

"We  could  make  no  kind  of  announcement  or 
complaint.  George  was  not  supposed  to  be  there. 
You  " — she  looked  at  Merriam — "  were  probably 
at  that  very  moment  making  a  speech  in  his  name  at 
Cairo.  We  could  say  nothing  to  anybody.  We 
figured  out  that  you  were  either  still  at  Cairo  or 
on  your  way  to  East  St.  Louis,  and  we  sent  mes- 
sages to  Mr.  Kockwell  at  both  places.  We  had  to 
stop  that  insane  speaking  tour  and  get  you  both 
back  here  as  soon  as  possible.  We  telephoned  to 
the  hotel  office  for  Dr.  Hobart,  but  they  said  he 
had  resigned  as  house  physician  the  night  before. 
Then  we  sent  for  Simpson.  He  didn't  seem  greatly 
surprised.  In  fact,  he  said  that  Dr.  Hobart  had 
offered  him  money  early  that  morning  '  to  help  in 
restoring  Senator  Norman  to  his  real  friends.'  That 
seems  to  have  been  the  way  Hobart  put  it.  Simp- 
son refused  the  money,  he  said,  and  didn't  learn 
what  the  plan  was.  He  said  that  he  had  meant  to 
tell  me  of  the  offer  but  hadn't  been  able  to  get  away 
from  his  work.  It  was  still  only  a  couple  of  hours 
since  Dr.  Hobart  had  talked  with  him.  He  said 
he  would  try  to  find  Hobart  and  learn  where  George 
was,  and  then  he  went  away,  and  we  haven't  heard 
from  him  since.  Finally,  I  went  out  to  see  the 
floor  clerk,  thinking  she  must  have  seen  when 
George  was  taken  out,  but  there  was  a  new  girl. 
The  former  one  had  quit,  she  said,  at  nine  o'clock — 
simply  telephoned  the  office  that  she  was  leaving 
and  hung  up  and  slipped  away." 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  337 

"Have  you  tried  to  see  Crockett?"  Rockwell 
asked. 

"  I  have,"  s?id  the  Mayor.  "  Been  trying  all  day. 
But  both  at  his  office  and  at  his  house  they  say  he 
isn't  in  and  they  don't  know  where  he  is  or  when  he 
will  be  back.  And  he  wasn't  at  any  of  his  clubs." 

"  It's  a  pretty  clean  get-away,"  said  Rockwell. 

Merriam  spoke  up.  "  I  have  some  hopes  of 
Simpson,"  he  said.  "  His  continued  absence  may 
mean  that  he  is  following  some  sort  of  trail." 

"  Maybe,"  said  Rockwell.  "  Meanwhile  this 
coffee  " — he  drew  attention  to  the  percolator — "  is 
getting  pretty  black,  and  black  coffee  is  what  we 
all  need.  After  that  we'll  see." 

"  Where  is  Mrs.  Norman?  "  Merriam  asked  tim- 
idly while  Rockwell  was  pouring  and  passing  the 
coffee. 

"  We  left  her  at  the  hotel  with  Alicia,"  said  Mr. 
Wayward.  "  We  had  to  leave  some  one  there,  in 
case  some  message  should  come  from  Simpson  or 
from  Crockett  or  from  George  himself." 

The  coffee  was  drunk  in  a  dismal  silence.  Mr. 
Wayward  attempted  one  or  two  semi-cheerful  re- 
marks, but  they  fell  flat. 

"  The  first  question,"  said  Rockwell  when  the 
cups  had  been  emptied,  "  is :  where  is  George  Nor- 
man? Crockett  may  have  taken  him  to  his  own 
house.  But  that  is  unlikely.  Or  to  some  other 
hotel.  Or  to  one  of  his  clubs.  Or,  if  he  is  still 
really  sick,  to  a  hospital.  I  think  myself  a  hotel 
is  the  most  probable.  That  could  have  been  man- 


338      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

aged  with  a  minimum  of  explanations.  In  any 
case  we  have  got  to  find  him.  But  this  is  no  case 
for  amateurs.  I  propose  to  engage  a  professional 
private  detective  and  commission  him  to  find 
George.  Also  Hobart.  It  oughtn't  to  take  him 
more  than  twenty-four  hours.  Then  we  can  make 
further  plans.  If  Norman  is  still  sick,  we  may 
have  to  re-kidnap  him.  If  he  is  up  and  himself 
again,  it  will  be  a  matter  of  parleying  with  him  and 
Crockett  and  making  such  terms  as  we  can.  Has 
any  one  a  better  suggestion?  " 

It  appeared  that  no  one  had,  and  Kockwell  was 
looking  up  the  detective  agency,  when  the  doorbell 
rang  again. 

Father  Murray  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"  Yes,  you  answer  it,"  said  Rockwell. 

Before  the  priest  could  reach  the  door  an  im- 
patient rat-a-tat-tat  sounded  on  the  panel. 

He  opened  to  Alicia  and  Simpson. 

"  Good  heavens,  you're  slow ! "  cried  Alicia. 
"And  glum  as  the  grave,"  she  added,  glancing  about 
the  circle  of  faces.  "  Simpson  has  found  George." 

There  were  exclamations. 

Eockwell  put  down  the  telephone  book  and  went 
to  Alicia. 

"  Dear !  "  he  said. 

And  Alicia,  turning,  put  her  arms  about  his  neck 
and  kissed  him.  "  You  poor  fellow !  "  she  cried. 

Then  Eockwell  turned  to  Simpson. 

"  Sit  down  here,  Simpson,"  he  said.  "  Have 
some  coffee?  You  look  fagged." 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  339 

"  Thank  you,  sir.    I  am  pretty  much  all  in." 

Kockwell  drew  a  cup  of  coffee  and  took  it  to  him, 
and  the  waiter  gulped  it  down. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  he  said  again.  "Now  I  can 
tell  you.  I  owe  a  good  deal  to  that  young  gentle- 
man " — he  indicated  Merriam, — "  and  when  I  saw 
the  trouble  you  were  all  in  I  decided  to  do  what  I 
could.  Of  course  we  knew  Mr.  Crockett  was  at 
the  bottom  of  the  thing,  and  I  decided  he  was  the 
most  findable  person  in  it.  I  figured  that  he 
wouldn't  appear  at  his  office  and  wouldn't  go  home, 
but  that  sooner  or  later  he  would  show  up  at  one 
of  his  clubs.  You  remember  I  asked  you  this  morn- 
ing what  clubs  he  belonged  to."  This  to  Mayor 
Black. 

The  Mayor  assented. 

"  You  mentioned  five.  That  was  a  pretty  large 
order,  but  I  got  some  of  my  pals  who  are  taxicab 
drivers  to  help  me,  and  between  us  we  kept  a  pretty 
close  watch  on  all  of  them.  He  didn't  come  near 
the  one  I  was  watching  myself,  and  I  didn't  hear 
anything  from  the  others  till  five  o'clock.  Then 
one  of  the  boys  sent  word  to  me  that  he  had  entered 
the  Grill  Club  on  Monroe  Street.  I  went  right 
over  and  hung  around  there  for  nearly  three  hours. 
It  was  a  quarter  to  eight  when  he  came  out.  He 
took  a  taxi,  and  I  followed  in  another.  He  drove 
to  St.  John's  Hospital  over  on  the  West  Side.  I 
was  right  after  him  and  followed  him  into  the 
building.  He  doesn't  know  me,  of  course,  and  paid 
no  attention  to  me.  He  spoke  to  the  nurse  at  the 


340      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

desk  and  then  stepped  into  a  waiting  room.  The 
nurse  looked  hard  at  me,  but  I  said,  *  I'm  with 
him,'  and  stepped  back  towards  the  door.  She 
thought  I  was  his  man  and  took  no  further  notice 
of  me.  Pretty  soon  Dr.  Hobart  came  down.  He 
didn't  see  me,  but  I  saw  him  plainly.  He  looked 
pretty  much  worried — scared,  I  thought.  He  and 
Mr.  Crockett  talked  for  a  while  in  the  waiting  room, 
but  I  couldn't  hear  anything  they  said.  Then  Mr. 
Crockett  left,  and  Dr.  Hobart  went  back  upstairs. 
I  could  have  spoken  to  him  after  Mr.  Crockett  had 
gone  out,  but  I  thought  I  had  better  not  let  them 
know  that  any  one  was  on  their  trail — for  fear  they 
would  move  him  again.  Then  I  had  an  idea.  I 
went  up  to  the  desk  again.  I  said  to  the  nurse: 
'  How  is  Mr.  Merriam?  '  She  looked  at  me.  '  He's 
pretty  sick,'  she  said,  and  turned  away.  I  didn't 
see  what  more  I  could  do,  so  I  took  my  taxi  back 
to  the  De  Soto  and  went  up  to  the  Senator's  suite 
and  found  Miss  Wayward  and  Mrs.  Norman,  and 
Miss  Wayward  brought  me  here." 

For  a  moment  Rockwell  seemed  sunk  in  thought. 
Then  he  roused  himself,  glanced  around  the  circle 
of  faces,  and  spoke : 

"  First  of  all,  Mr.  Simpson,  I  want  to  say  that 
you  have  done  a  very  clever  bit  of  work.  We  were 
about  to  engage  a  private  detective  to  undertake 
what  you  have  already  accomplished.  I  think  I 
can  safely  say  that  we  will  see  that  you  are  suitably 
rewarded." 

"You  can,"  said  Mr.  Wayward  emphatically — 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  341 

which  was  satisfactory  since  he  was  the  person 
present  from  whom  any  substantial  monetary  re- 
ward must  come. 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Simpson. 

The  Mayor  broke  in : 

"  It's  pretty  clear  what  has  happened.  They  got 
Norman  downstairs  while  Miss  Norman  and  Mrs. 
Norman  were  at  breakfast,  put  him  in  a  taxi,  drove 
to  the  hospital,  and  entered  him  under  the  name  of 
Merriam.  And  Dr.  Hobart  has  stayed  in  attend- 
ance." 

"And  he's  still  sick — perhaps  worse,"  said  Aunt 
Mary  anxiously. 

"  Why  did  they  enter  him  as  Merriam?  "  asked 
Rockwell,  thinking  aloud.  "It  must  mean  that 
Crockett  doesn't  dare  denounce  us  or  doesn't  wish 
to  do  so,  that  he  means  to  make  terms  with  us  and 
preserve  the  secrecy  of  the  whole  affair.  As  I  see 
it,  there  will  have  to  be  one  more  substitution  " — 
he  addressed  the  real  owner  of  the  name  of  Mer- 
riam,— "  of  you  for  Norman — at  the  hospital. 
You  have  reported  yourself  to  your  Biceville  people 
as  sick.  Very  well,  you  have  gone  to  a  hospital. 
From  the  hospital  you  return  to  your  work.  It 
will  strengthen  your  alibi.  And  Norman  will  be 
restored  to  us — on  Crockett's  conditions,  of  course. 
But  we  shall  escape  the  worst.  We  shall  come 
off  safe  yet.  But  it  must  happen  at  once,"  he  con- 
tinued, with  a  note  of  new  anxiety.  "  The  whole 
State  knows  that  Norman's  speaking  tour  has  been 
abandoned,  that  he  came  back  to  Chicago  to-day, 


342      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

that  lie  is  in  the  City  now.  We  must  get  hold  of 
Crockett  some  way  to-night.  The  final  substitution 
must  be  made  before  morning." 

Mr.  Wayward  was  looking  at  his  watch.  "  It's 
eleven  o'clock  now,"  he  said.  "  But  you'd  better 
try  telephoning.  His  clubs,  I  think." 

"  Yes,"  said  Eockwell.  "  The  Grill  Club !  That's 
where  you  found  him,  Simpson?  He  may  have 
gone  back  there  for  the  night.  I'll  try  that  first." 

He  went  quickly  to  the  telephone. 

While  Eockwell  was  looking  up  the  number  and 
the  rest  waiting  in  painful  expectancy,  the  door- 
bell for  the  third  time  startled  them. 

"  I'll  go,  sir,"  said  Simpson. 

In  a  moment  he  had  opened  the  door. 

On  the  threshold  stood  Crockett — a  pale,  hesi- 
tant, almost  seedy  Crockett,  very  different  from  the 
serene,  confident,  well-groomed  financier  whom 
Merriam  had  first  encountered  forty-eight  hours 
before  at  Jennie's. 

Kockwell  dropped  the  book: 

"  Come  in,  Mr.  Crockett.  I  was  just  going  to 
'phone  to  you." 

Crockett  advanced  a  couple  of  steps  into  the 
room.  Then  he  stopped.  There  was  something 
portentous  in  his  air  of  mournful  gravity.  His 
eyes  travelled  from  face  to  face.  For  a  moment  they 
rested  on  Merriam.  Then  they  came  to  a  full  stop 
on  Aunt  Mary. 

The  whole  roomful  remained  silent,  fascinated 
by  his  look,  which  seemed  to  speak,  not  of  threat, 


SIMPSON  AS  DETECTIVE  343 

which  they  might  have  expected,  but  of  some  dis- 
aster beyond  threat. 

At  last  with  an  effort  he  turned  his  eyes  from 
Aunt  Mary  to  Rockwell. 

"  I  have  to  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  that  George  Nor- 
man is  dead." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE  FINAL  DILEMMA 

I  DO  not  suppose  Mr.  Crockett  desired  to  be  un- 
necessarily cruel.  Doubtless  he  would  have 
preferred  to  break  his  devastating  news  more 
gently.  But  he  was  himself  in  a  state  of  nervous 
exhaustion  from  fatigue,  worry,  and  perhaps  re- 
morse, and  the  circle  of  anxious  faces  had  proved 
too  much  for  his  self-control. 

Eealising  too  late  the  brutal  bluntness  of  his 
announcement,  he  broke  into  a  hurried  flow  of 
words : 

"We  took  him  from  the  hotel  this  morning  to 
St.  John's  Hospital.  We  thought  he  would  be  just 
as  well  off  there — even  better  off.  Dr.  Hobart 
thought  he  was  nearly  well  anyway.  But  the  ride 
and  the  effort  of  listening  to  Hobart's  explanations 
apparently  fatigued  him.  By  the  time  they  got  to 
the  hospital  he  was  very  sick  again.  His  bron- 
chitis— if  it  ever  was  bronchitis — turned  into  pneu- 
monia— double  acute  pneumonia.  He  got  worse 
and  worse  all  day.  Dr.  Hobart  and  the  physicians 
and  nurses  at  the  hospital  did  everything  possible 
for  him.  But  it  was  no  use.  He  died  at  nine 
o'clock." 

344  - 


THE  FINAL  DILEMMA  345 

All  eyes  turned  suddenly  to  Aunt  Mary,  who  had 
risen,  holding  on  to  the  back  of  her  chair. 

Father  Murray  was  at  her  side  in  an  instant,  and 
Alicia  hurried  to  her. 

"  No,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  brokenly,  "  I'm  not  go- 
i:tg — to  faint — or  anything.  But  I  want — to  be 
alone." 

Eockwell  sprang  to  his  feet.  "My  bedroom," 
he  said,  and  led  the  way  to  the  door  of  his  chamber, 
which  opened  off  the  sitting  room. 

In  a  moment  Aunt  Mary,  walking  between 
Father  Murray  and  Alicia,  had  passed  into  the  bed- 
room. 

Mr.  Wayward's  voice  broke  the  stillness. 

"  Poor  fellow !  "  he  said. 

For  a  minute  or  two  they  all  paid  the  tribute  of 
silence  to  the  dead.  But  it  was  impossible  to  be 
really  very  sorry  for  George  Norman.  He  had 
had  an  easy,  pleasure-filled  life — wealth,  luxury, 
fame,  and  a  good  time,  according  to  his  own  con- 
ception of  a  good  time,  up  to  the  very  beginning  of 
his  brief  illness.  That  his  last  few,  largely  un- 
conscious hours  had  been  passed  in  a  hospital  away 
from  his  friends  had  certainly  been  almost  no  grief 
to  him.  The  only  sorrow  genuinely  possible  was 
over  the  common  folly,  and  the  universal  final 
tragedy,  of  humankind.  In  a  few  moments  the 
thoughts  of  the  entire  group  that  remained  in 
KockwelPs  sitting  room  were  irresistibly  drawn 
back  to  the  strange  and  somewhat  dangerous  situa- 
tion in  which  the  unexpected  death  had  left  them. 


346      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Presently  Bockwell  spoke: 

"  Technically,  Mr.  Crockett,  I  suppose  it  is  not 
Senator  Norman  but  Mr.  Merriam  who  died  at  St. 
John's  Hospital." 

(Merriam  was  somewhat  startled  at  this  turn 
of  thought;  this  phase  of  the  matter  had  not  yet 
occurred  to  him. ) 

"  You  have  made  no  announcement?  "  Kockwell 
asked. 

"  No,"  said  Crockett.  "  I  have  done  nothing. 
When  Hobart  telephoned  me  that — what  had  hap- 
pened, I  rushed  out  to  the  hospital  again — I  don't 
know  why.  I  couldn't  believe  it.  Then  I  tele- 
phoned from  the  hospital  to  the  De  Soto  and  got 
Mrs.  Norman,  and  she  told  me  you  were  all  here, 
so  I  came  here.  I  have  done  nothing." 

While  he  was  speaking  Alicia  and  Father  Murray 
returned  from  the  bedroom. 

"  She  is  all  right,"  said  Alicia.  "  She  asked  us 
to  leave  her  alone  for  a  few  minutes.  Did  you 
tell  Mrs.  Norman?  "  she  added,  addressing  Crock- 
ett. 

"  What  had  happened?    Yes,"  said  Crockett. 

Merriam's  thoughts  flew  to  Mollie  June,  alone  in 
the  vast,  heartless  hotel  with  the  news  of  her  hus- 
band's death. 

"  Ought  not  some  one  to  go  to  her?  "  he  asked. 

"Presently,"  said  Kockwell.  "We  must  first 
consider  the  situation  a  little — hers  as  well  as 
ours." 

Mayor  Black  spoke  up: 


THE  FINAL  DILEMMA  347 

"  It  will  be  pretty  awkward  for  her — aside  from, 
natural  grief  and  all  that — that  her  husband  should 
have  died  in  a  hospital  under  another  name  without 
her  being  present,  while  the  man  to  whom  the  other 
name  belongs  was  impersonating  him  in  public. 
And  awkward  for  Miss  Norman.  For  the  rest  of 
us,  too.  Damned  awkward ! " 

"  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  have  to  close  the  career 
of  George  Norman  with  such  a  story,"  said  Mr. 
Wayward. 

"  It  must  never  happen ! "  said  a  voice  behind 
them. 

They  all  turned.  Aunt  Mary  was  standing  in 
the  door  of  the  bedroom.  She  already  looked  more 
like  herself.  She  was  one  of  those  souls  who 
may  sink  under  passive  anxiety  and  suspense  but 
find  themselves  again  immediately  when  a  call  for 
action  comes.  She  had  scarcely  been  left  alone,  ap- 
parently, when  the  same  thought  which  the  Mayor 
and  Mr.  Wayward  had  expressed  had  occurred  to 
her — the  peril  to  the  name  of  Norman,  which  was 
perhaps  even  more  dear  to  her  than  her  brother 
himself  had  been.  And  instantly,  by  some  power- 
ful effort  of  will,  she  had  put  grief  behind  her  and 
turned  to  face  this  new  danger. 

"  It  must  never  happen,"  she  repeated,  advanc- 
ing into  the  room,  where  Alicia,  and  the  men  too, 
unmindful  of  the  etiquette  which  should  have 
brought  them  to  their  feet,  sat  staring  at  her. 
"  The  secret  must  be  kept.  It  is  more  important 
now  than  ever.  With  George  alive,  it  would  not 


348      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

have  mattered  so  much.  He  would  have  lived  it 
down  triumphantly.  Only  the  rest  of  us  would 
have  suffered — not  he,  nor  the  Name.  But  now — 
it  must  l)e  kept!  " 

"  But  how  can  it  be  kept?  "  said  Crockett,  in  a 
tone  of  desperation. 

For  a  moment  no  one  spoke. 

Then  Kockwell,  looking  from  face  to  face,  drew 
a  deep  breath. 

"  There  is  just  one  way,"  he  said.  "  It  was  John 
Merriam  who  died.  Senator  Norman  is  alive." 
He  waved  his  hand  at  Merriam.  "  He  must  go  on 
living ! " 

"  But  that  is  impossible,"  said  Mayor  Black  and 
Merriam  together. 

"Face  the  alternative  first,"  said  Kockwell. 
"  George — the  real  George — was  admitted  to  the 
hospital  about  nine  o'clock  this  morning.  At  that 
same  hour  Senator  Norman  was  making  a  speech 
at  Cairo  before  an  audience  representing  the  entire 
county.  That  is  known  all  over  the  State.  He 
took  the  next  train  back  to  Chicago.  But  that 
train  did  not  reach  Chicago  until  after — after  the 
death." 

"  We  could  have  the  hour  of  the  death  changed 
on  the  records,"  proposed  Mr.  Wayward.  "  It  is 
already  announced  all  over  the  State  that  Senator 
Norman  is  ill  again.  He  could  be  rushed  from  the 
train  to  the  hospital  and  die  there  during  the 
night." 

"  Then  we  should  have  two  deaths  on  our  hands," 


THE  FINAL  DILEMMA  349 

said  Rockwell,  "and  only  one  body.  Unless  we 
bring  Merriam  to  life  again.  How  are  we  to  do 
that?  It  is  pretty  hard  to  get  hospital  authorities 
to  falsify  their  records.  And  dozens  of  people 
must  know  the  supposed  facts — nurses,  doctors, 
clerks  at  the  hospital.  We  could  never  keep  them 
all  from  talking.  The  reporters  would  get  hold 
of  it  within  twenty-four  hours.  No,  Senator  Nor- 
man cannot  have  died  at  the  hospital.  He  is  alive. 
He  must  go  on  living !  " 

"  Can't  he  die  at  the  hotel — to-night  or  to-mor- 
row? "  said  Merriam. 

"  Then  what  becomes  of  you?  "  asked  Rockwell. 

"  Why,  I  should  go  back  to  Riceville." 

"  You  can't.  You're  dead !  And  how  can  Sen- 
ator Norman  die  at  the  hotel  when  we  should  not 
be  able  to  produce  his  body  there?  " 

"We  could  get  the  body,"  said  Mr.  Wayward, 
speaking  in  a  lowered  tone.  "As  Mr.  Merriam?s 
friends  we  would  take  his  body  away  from  the  hos- 
pital to  be  buried  and  bring  it  to  the  hotel." 

"  We  shall  have  to  send  for  the  real  Merriam's 
friends."  said  Rockwell.  "  From  Riceville  and — 
wherever  your  people  live."  He  looked  at  Mer- 
riam. "We  should  have  no  body  to  show  them. 
We  could  bury  a  loaded  casket.  But  why  should 
we,  who  must  be  strangers  to  him  from  their  point 
of  view,  have  been  in  such  a  hurry  when  they  could 
get  here  in  a  few  hours?  Probably  they  would 
want  to  take  his  body  elsewhere  for  burial.  Very 
likely  they  would  have  the  coffin  we  had  buried 


850      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

raised  and  opened.  And  how  could  we  get  a  dead 
body  into  the  Hotel  De  Soto?  Up  a  fire  escape?  " 

In  the  earnestness  of  his  argument  Kockwell  evi- 
dently did  not  realise  the  gruesouieness  of  his 
language. 

Aunt  Mary  shuddered. 

"  No ! "  she  said.  "  I  will  not  have  George's 
body  smuggled  about  the  city." 

She  paused,  looking  strangely  at  Merriam. 
None  of  the  others,  not  even  Kockwell,  ventured 
to  speak. 

"Alicia  told  me,  I  believe,  that  you  have  no  near 
relatives?"  she  said  presently. 

"  None  nearer  than  cousins,"  Merriam  replied. 

For  a  long  minute  more  Aunt  Mary  stared  at 
him.  She  closed  her  eyes,  opened  them,  and  looked 
again.  Then  her  lips  shut  tight  for  a  moment  in 
an  expression  of  momentous  decision.  She  leaned 
forward. 

"  You  have  the  Norman  blood  in  you,"  she  said 
to  Merriam,  "  on  your  mother's  side.  You  are  fine 
stuff.  We  have  all  seen  that.  We  will  make  a 
Norman  of  you,  if  you  will.  You  shall  take 
George's  place — to  save  his  name !  " 

"  But "  Merriam  began. 

But  Eockwell  cut  in : 

"  It's  absolutely  the  only  way,"  he  cried.  "  The 
only  other  alternative  is  to  let  the  whole  story 
come  out." 

"  Then  that's  what  we  have  to  do,"  said  Mr.  Way- 
ward. "  Make  a  clean  breast  of  it." 


THE  FIXAL  DILEMMA  351 

"  No !  "  said  Aunt  Mary. 

"Xo!"  echoed  Rockwell.  "Think  what  that 
means — to  George's  memory,  first  of  all.  That  in 
his  last  hours  his  relatives  and  friends  were  con- 
spiring against  him,  with  the  help  of  a  stranger 
double,  to  force  him  to  abandon  the  kind  of  life  he 
was  leading  and  the  disreputable  interests  with 
which  he  was  associated. — I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr. 
Crockett ! " 

Crockett  waved  a  feeble  hand  to  indicate  for- 
giveness or  indifference. 

"And  then  to  Mollie  June,"  Rockwell  continued. 
"  That  she  had  connived  at  the  impersonation  of 
her  husband  during  his  last  illness  by  another  man. 
How  far  did  that  other  man  take  her  husband's 
place,  will  be  the  question  every  man  and  woman 
in  the  State  will  ask.  And  all  the  rest  of  us.  Aunt 
Mary.  And  Mr.  Merriam,  who  will  lose  his  job  and 
his  professional  standing.  And  the  Mayor  and  my- 
self, who  will  be  ruined  politically  and  every  other 
way.  Even  you,  Mr.  Wayward,  would  find  your- 
self in  an  exceedingly  unpleasant  situation.  And 
Mr.  Crockett,  on  the  other  side,  would  be  no  better 
off.  For  the  story  of  the  kidnapping  must  come 
out," 

The  wilted  financier  uttered  a  sort  of  groan. 

"  But  can  the  other  thing  be  done?  "  asked  the 
Mayor,  the  perspiration  of  mental  anguish  showing 
on  his  forehead. 

"  Certainly  it  can,"  said  Rockwell  eagerly. 
"  Senator  Xorman  has  come  back  to  Chicago. 


352      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Here  he  is.  Presently  he  will  arrive  at  the  hotel. 
He  will  be  pretty  sick.  You  and  I " — he  looked  at 
Mr.  Wayward — "  will  support  him  to  the  elevator 
and  to  his  rooms.  He  will  be  ill  for  several  days. 
We  must  get  hold  of  Hobart  again  to  attend  him. 
Then  we  will  announce  that  he  is  threatened  with 
tuberculosis  and  is  to  retire  from  public  life.  He 
must  resign  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  We  daren't  go 
ahead  with  that.  It  would  be  too  dangerous — and 
too  serious  a  fraud  besides."  (Evidently  there 
was  some  limit  to  a  Reformer's  unscrupulousness. ) 
"  He  will  go  to  his  ranch  in  Colorado  to  recuperate. 
You  will  actually  go."  He  was  addressing  Mer- 
riain  now.  "  You  must  live  there  for  a  year  or  so. 
During  that  time  only  a  few  of  Norman's  private 
friends  will  visit  you.  We  will  coach  you  up  on 
these  a  few  at  a  time.  If  any  of  them  notice  any 
slight  changes  in  you,  they  will  lay  it  to  your  ill- 
ness. You  will  easily  take  your  place  in  the  whole 
circle  of  his  private  life." 

"  But  the  property,"  said  Mr.  Wayward.  "  The 
Norman  fortune." 

"  Reverts  to  me  and  Mollie  June,"  said  Aunt 
Mary,  who  was  evidently  heart  and  soul  with  Rock- 
well. "  If  we  are  satisfied " 

She  stopped.  The  mention  of  Mollie  June  had 
recalled  a  phase  of  the  situation  which  Rockwell 
and  the  Mayor  and  even  Mr.  Wayward  had  ap- 
parently forgotten — so  little  are  men  accustomed 
to  consider  their  women  folk  when  the  real  game 
of  business  or  politics  is  on.  Merriam  and  Alicia 


THE  FIXAL  DILEMMA  353 

had  not  forgotten  it,  but  had  not  been  able  so  far 
to  get  a  word  in.  As  for  Aunt  Mary  I  cannot  say — 
she  was  so  near  to  being  a  man  herself. 

"  Mollie  June !  "  repeated  Kockwell  aghast, 

"Exactly,"  said  Merriam,  somewhat  bitterly. 
Him,  too,  Kockwell  had  been  treating  pretty  much 
as  a  lifeless  pawn  in  the  game. 

But  Aunt  Mary,  when  roused,  was  equal  to  any- 
thing. 

"  We  shall  manage  that,"  she  said.  "  I  will  go 
to  Colorado  with  Mr.  Merriam.  Mollie  June  can 
return  to  her  father  for  a  time.  We  can  arrange 
a  separation — or " 

Even  Aunt  Mary  hesitated.  But  Alicia  took  the 
cue. 

"  Or  they  can  be  married — or  remarried,"  she 
said,  fixing  her  bright  eyes,  with  a  gleam  of  mis- 
chievous understanding  in  them,  on  Merriam. 

The  argument  had  come  to  a  full  stop.  The 
whole  roomful  sat  looking  at  Merriam,  who  tried 
to  think  and  found  he  could  not,  except  that  he 
realised  that  all  the  rest  had  tacitly  accepted  Rock- 
well's plan. 

"  Come ! "  said  Alicia  vivaciously.  "  It  isn't  so 
bad,  is  it?  The  Norman  fortune  and — Mollie 
June!" 

Bad !  The  prospect  was  so  dazzling  to  Merriam 
that  he  could  not  take  his  mind  off  it  in  order  to 
think  calmly.  To  die  to  his  old  self — to  his  poverty 
and  loneliness,  to  his  teaching  with  which  he  had 
long  been  bored, — and  to  step  as  if  by  magic  into  a 


354      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

new  life  with  wealth,  leisure — and  Mollie  June! 
For  surely  she  loved  him,  and  she  had  not  loved 
George  Norman.  She  would  marry  him. — after  an 
interval,  of  course. 

"  I  must  think,"  he  said,  weakly,  in  response  to 
Alicia's  exhortation. 

"  Of  course  you  must,"  said  Kockwell.  "  You 
must  accustom  your  mind  to  it.  But  it  will  all  be* 
perfectly  easy.  You  were  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
weren't  you?  You  will  take  to  the  ranch  life  like 
anything.  It's  mostly  stock-raising.  You  can  go 
in  for  scientific  farming.  After  a  few  months  it 
would  probably  be  a  good  thing  for  you  to  travel, 
perhaps  for  a  year  or  two — especially  if  you  and 
Mollie  June  should  marry.  Get  out  of  the  coun- 
try, so  as  to  leave  Norman's  old  life  entirely  behind 
you  for  a  while.  You  might  take  a  trip  around  the 
world." 

Merriam's  youthful  heart  bounded  in  spite  of 
himself.  A  trip  around  the  world  with  Mollie 
June! 

"As  to  your  old  self,"  Bockwell  continued, 
"  that's  quite  simple,  too.  Norman  was  entered  at 
the  hospital  under  your  name.  A  death  certificate 
must  have  been  given  by  now."  He  looked  at 
Crockett. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Crockett.  "Hobart  may 
have  held  off  on  that." 

"At  any  rate  it  can  be.  In  fact,  it  will  have  to 
be.  Hobart  shall  telegraph  to  Biceville  and  to 
your  cousins,  wherever  they  are.  He  was  the 


THE  FINAL  DILEMMA  355 

house  physician  at  the  De  Soto  where  you  took 
sick.  That  was  how  he  came  to  be  attending  you. 
When  you  got  bad  he  took  you  to  the  hospital. 
Xothing  more  natural.  The  rest  of  us  will  not 
need  to  appear  at  all." 

"Aunt  Mary  will  have  to  appear,"  said  Alicia. 
"  She  will  want  to  attend  the  funeral." 

"  She  became  acquainted  with  you  at  the  hotel, 
then,"  said  Rockwell.  "  Took  an  interest  in  a 
young  man  who  was  alone  and  ill.  When  your 
relatives  and  friends  come  Hobart  will  have  the 
body  already  laid  out  in  a  casket.  He  can  advise 
immediate  burial  here  in  the  city.  Aunt  Mary  can 
offer  a  lot  in  the  !Norman  plot  at  Lakewood. 
Would  your  cousins  probably  consent  to  that?  " 

"Very  likely,"  said  Merriam,  rather  in  a  daze. 
It  was  confusing  to  be  discussing  the  details  of 
one's  own  interment. 

"  Then  everything  will  follow  in  regular  course," 
said  Rockwell,  speaking  as  if  all  difficulties  were 
solved.  "George  will  be  buried  with  his  family, 
and  you  can  start  for  Colorado." 

For  a  second  time  the  talk  came  to  a  full  stop. 
The  new  plan  was  outlined  in  full.  It  remained 
only  to  decide  upon  it  or  to  reject  it  and  face  the 
alternative  of  a  public  confession.  All  of  them 
except  Merriam  had  already  accepted  the  scheme, 
apparently,  gruesome  and  bizarre  as  it  was.  It 
was  for  all  the  rest  so  much  the  easiest  way  and 
the  most  advantageous.  But  it  did  not  require  any 
of  them  to  die — to  die  to  his  own  self,  his  friends, 


356      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

his  very  name.  On  the  other  hand  it  did  not  offer 
them  any  such  positive  rewards  as  were  proffered 
to  Merriam — a  fortune  and  love.  We  can  hardly 
wonder  that  he  was  somewhat  stupefied  by  the 
alternatives  that  beat  upon  his  mind.  The  loss  of 
all  that  up  to  this  point  in  his  life  had  been  his 
identity  versus  Mollie  June — that  was  the  essence 
of  the  struggle  within  him. 

He  sat  beside  Rockwell's  table,  staring  at  the 
now  silent  percolator,  trying  to  think  but  able  only 
to  feel.  The  others  were  looking  uneasily  at  him 
and  at  one  another.  Aunt  Mary's  eyes  and  Alicia's 
demanded  of  Rockwell,  who  had  always  managed 
everything,  that  he  should  manage  this  too.  Once 
he  started  to  speak,  but  gave  it  up  and  looked  ap- 
pealingly  at  Alicia  instead.  Indeed  he  might  justi- 
fiably feel  that  this  was  Alicia's  job.  She  ad  nowl- 
edged  as  much  in  her  own  mind  and  was  trying  to 
decide  what  to  do  or  say,  when  the  one  person 
present  who  had  not  spoken  throughout  the  entire 
scene  came  to  the  rescue. 

Through  all  their  long  discussion  Simpson  had 
stood  unobtrusive  and  unnoticed  in  the  background, 
but  he  had  followed  e"very  word.  For  his  fortunes 
too,  humble,  indeed,  but  sufficiently  important  to 
him,  were  bound  up  in  this  decision.  If  the  decep- 
tion was  to  be  continued,  his  assistance,  in  the 
matter  of  silence  at  least,  would  be  necessary,  and 
he  could  expect  a  large — honorarium ;  if  it  came  to 
a  public  confession,  he  could  still  expect  some- 
thing, but  probably  a  good  deal  less;  and  to  win 


THE  FINAL  DITEMMA  357 

and  hold  Jennie  he  needed  a  ct  nsiderable  sum  of 
money. 

So  now  he  advanced  a  step  and  spoke : 

"  Shall  I  call  a  taxi  for  you,  Mr.  Merriam,  to 
take  you  to  the  hotel?  " 

"  Of  course !  "  cried  Alicia,  jumping  up.  "  You 
must  go  and  see  Mollie  June.  It  all  depends  now 
upon  her." 

The  others  too  stirred  and  expressed  more  or  less 
audible  acquiescence,  and  Simpson  had  his  reward 
in  the  shape  of  approving  glances  from  Eockwell 
and  Mr.  Wayward. 

Merriam  got  to  his  feet  with  the  other  men  be- 
cause Alicia  had  risen.  He  was  not  so  obtuse  nor 
so  much  dazed  that  he  did  not  see  what  they  were 
doing.  They  were  trying  to  rush  him.  They 
calculated  that  though  Mollie  June  in  the  abstract 
might  contend  indecisively  with  other  abstract  con- 
siderations, Mollie  June  in  the  flesh  would  decide 
him  in  tli3  twinkling  of  an  eye.  He  saw  that 
plainly  enough.  Nevertheless,  for  his  part  it  did 
now  depend  altogether  upon  Mollie  June.  If  he 
was  to  do  this  thing — to  abandon  his  old  self  and 
enter  upon  what  must  be  in  some  degree  a  lifelong 
career  of  deception, — it  would  be  for  her  sake — not 
only  in  order  to  win  her  sooner,  years  sooner,  than 
he  could  otherwise  have  the  slightest  hope  of  doing, 
but  to  save  her  from  scandal,  and  because  she  loved 
him  and  wanted  him  too  at  once  (comparatively 
speaking)  as  he  wanted  her. 

So  his  decision  was  made  almost  as  soon  as  he 


358      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAOT> 

was  on  his  feet.     He  looked  with  some  dignity  from 
one  waiting  face  to  another  about  the  circle. 

"  Yes,"  he  said  quietly,  "  it  does  depend  on  her. 
You  may  call  a  taxi,  Simpson." 


CHAPTER  XXX 

MOLLIE  JUNE 

ALMOST  before  Merriam's  brief  sentence  was 
out  of  his  mouth.  Simpson  had  started  for  the 
telephone.  But  Mayor  Black  spoke  up : 

"  My  car  and  chauffeur  are  below.  We  came  up 
from  the  hotel  in  it.  You  can  use  it." 

"  You  go  with  him,  Aunt  Mary,"  said  Rockwell, 
again  taking  command.  "  You  see  her  first,"  he 
continued.  "  Mr.  Merriam  can  wait  somewhere — 
in  l  Mr.  Wilson's '  room.  When  you  have  explained 
the  general  situation  you  can  call  him  in  and  leave 
them  together  and — give  him  his  chance." 

Even  at  this  moment  it  was  a  slight  shock  to 
Merriam  to  realise  that  the  state  of  feeling  between 
himself  and  Mollie  June,  which  they  had  supposed 
completely  hidden,  had  been  clearly  perceived  by 
the  others — or  at  least,  he  thought  swiftly,  by 
Rockwell  and  Aunt  Mary  and  Alicia.  He  smiled 
a  little  cynically  to  himself  as  he  understood  that 
they  had  been  willing  to  use  this  interest  of  his  as 
a  motive  in  securing  his  easy  acquiescence  in  their 
previous  schemes.  Evidently  they  were  counting 
on  it  in  Mollie  June  too.  That  gave  him  a  thrill  of 
hope  which  made  him  forget  his  cynicism. 

Father  Murray  had  put  Aunt  Mary's  wrap  about 
369 


360      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

her,  and  Rockwell  had  got  Merriam's  hat  and  his 
own. 

Merriam  found  Alicia  by  his  side.  She  held  out 
her  hand,  and  when  he  took  it  she  squeezed  his 
fingers  in  the  way  she  had  and  said  significantly, 
with  all  of  a  woman's  interest  in  a  romance : 

"Good  luck!" 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Merriam,  but  his  answering 
smile  was  again  a  little  cynical. 

Then  he  opened  the  door  for  Aunt  Mary  and 
waved  his  hand  to  the  others,  with  some  amuse- 
ment at  the  anxious  looks  with  which  they  were  re- 
garding him.  Even  Simpson's  countenance  was 
perturbed ! 

Kockwell  and  the  Mayor  went  down  to  the  street 
with  them  and  put  them  in  the  limousine.  The 
Mayor  directed  the  chauffeur  to  drive  them  to  the 
hotel  and  then  to  return  for  himself  and  the  others. 
Kockwell  spoke  to  Aunt  Mary : 

"  You  put  the  essential  facts  before  her  and  then 
leave  them — leave  Mr.  Merriam  to  do  the  rest !  " 

And  again  Merriam  smiled  with  an  acid  amuse- 
ment that  is  commonly  supposed  to  belong  to  the 
middle-aged  and  old  but  is  really  most  character- 
istic of  those  who  are  under  thirty. 

Eockwell  glanced  at  Merriam  as  if  about  to  give 
him  too  a  parting  exhortation,  but  hesitated, 
checked  perhaps  by  the  younger  man's  expression, 
and  spoke  to  the  driver  instead :  "All  right !  " 

They  had  started,  and  Merriam  tried  to  think. 
His  whole  life  turned  in  a  very  peculiar  sense  on 


MOLLIE  JUNE  361 

the  events  of  the  next  hour — whether  he  should  con- 
tinue to  be  himself  or  take  up  the  life  of  another 
man.  He  got  that  far.  But  what  he  should  say 
to  Mollie  June — even  what  it  was  he  wanted  to  say 
to  her — he  could  not  get  on  with  it.  The  mood  of 
youthful  cynicism  was  by  no  means  the  right  mood 
for  the  business  in  hand. 

And  then — too  soon  for  him  now — they  were  at 
the  hotel. 

So  little  had  he  been  able  to  think  clearly  that  it 
was  not  until  he  was  helping  Aunt  Mary  out  of  the 
machine  that  he  realised  that  in  entering  the  hotel 
with  her  again  this  way,  in  the  character  of  the 
dead  Senator,  he  was  already  in  effect  consenting 
to  KockwelPs  plan  and  binding  its  consequences 
upon  himself  and  Mollie  June. 

He  had  a  wild  idea  of  getting  back  into  the 
limousine  and  driving  away  and  later  entering  the 
hotel  via  the  fire  escape  again.  But  Aunt  Mary 
was  already  on  the  pavement. 

As  they  entered  the  lobby  Merriam  glanced  about 
to  see  whether  he  was  noticed  and  recognised  as 
the  Senator.  He  was.  At  least  three  men  whom 
he  did  not  know  bowed  and  raised  their  hats,  and 
one  of  them  took  a  step  forward  as  if  to  approach 
them.  But  Merriam  looked  away  and  guided  Aunt 
Mary  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  the  elevators. 

When  they  emerged  on  Floor  Three,  Merriam 
asked  for  the  key,  explaining  casually  that  "Mr. 
Wilson  "  was  a  friend. 

In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  had  escorted  Aunt 


362      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

Mary  to  the  door  of  her  sitting  room — Senator 
Norman's  no  longer — or  was  it  still  to  be  Senator 
Norman's? — and  had  himself  entered  "Mr.  Wil- 
son's "  room. 

His  first  act  there  was  to  call  up  the  hotel 
florist — as  he  had  done  once  before  on  this  same 
telephone.  But  this  time  Merriam's  order  was  for 
roses,  to  be  sent  up  at  once. 

He  hung  up  the  receiver  and  walked  nervously 
about  the  room. 

Was  it  not  time  for  him  to  go  to  Mollie  June? 
Aunt  Mary  was  being  terribly  long  about  her  ex- 
planation. Had  Mollie  June  broken  down  under 
her  grief — grief  for  George  Norman? — or  merely 
from  anxiety  and  conflicting  emotions?  Was  she 
refusing  to  see  him?  Was  she  ill? 

He  jumped  up  and  walked  back  and  forth  in  his 
nervousness,  watching  the  door  to  the  other  bed- 
room, at  which  he  might  expect  to  receive  Aunt 
Mary's  summons. 

A  knock  at  last !  But  it  was  at  the  wrong  door, 
the  hall  door.  In  a  sort  of  hesitating  amazement 
he  went  to  answer  it.  It  was  the  boy  with  the 
roses.  He  had  forgotten  ordering  them. 

He  signed  for  the  flowers  and  brought  them  into 
the  room  and  took  them  out  of  their  box  and  tissue 
paper.  They  were  lovely — the  most  exquisite 
colour,  between  pink  and  red,  that  has  no  name 
but  that  of  the  flower  itself — pink  and  red  harmon- 
ised in  soft  coolness  and  fragrance — Mollie  June's 
flowers  without  a  doubt. 


MOLLIE  JUNE  363 

But  had  lie  done  well  in  ordering  them?  Was 
this  a  time  for  lover-like  gifts?  Should  he  not  have 
got  white  roses,  such  as  one  sends  to  a  funeral? 

And  then,  as  he  stood  in  this  anxiety,  came  Aunt 
Mary's  knock  at  the  bedroom  door. 

He  started  as  if  caught  in  a  guilty  action  and 
thrust  the  flowers  back  into  their  box  before  he 
went  to  open  to  her. 

"  How  is  she?  " 

But  Aunt  Mary  herself  looked  so  broken  that  he 
led  her  to  a  chair. 

Then,  "  How  is  she?  "  he  repeated.  He  could  not 
wait. 

"  She  is  very  quiet." 

"  You  told  her  the— the  plan?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  She  understood  it?  " 

\"  I  think  so." 

"Am  I  to  go  to  her?  " 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  Aunt  Mary  with  a  sigh'. 
"Mr.  Rockwell  said "  She  stopped. 

Merriam  showed  her  the  roses. 

"  Should  I  take  these  to  her?  " 

Aunt  Mary  looked  at  him  and  at  the  flowers. 

"  I  think  perhaps  you  might,"  she  said,  and  then 
sat  staring  out  across  the  fire  escape. 

She  looked  so  very  miserable  that  Merriam  im- 
pulsively patted  her  shoulder.  She  glanced  up 
quickly  at  that,  then  turned  her  eyes  to  the  window 
again.  He  could  not  read  her  look,  but  he  was  not 
sorry  he  had  betrayed  his  affectionate  sympathy. 


364      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

If  he  was  to  be  her  brother  for  the  rest  of  their 
lives 

After  a  moment  more  of  hesitation  he  picked  up 
the  flowers  and  passed  through  the  former  sick 
room  to  the  sitting  room. 

Mollie  June  was  sitting  in  a  small  straight- 
backed  chair  by  the  window,  looking  out.  But 
Merriam  was  sure  at  the  first  glance  that  she  saw 
nothing.  She  had  merely  turned  automatically  to- 
wards the  light,  as  all  but  the  old  or  the  self-con- 
scious tend  to  do.  As  Aunt  Mary  had  said  she 
was  very  quiet.  Her  back  was  of  course  towards 
the  room  and  Merriam. 

He  waited  for  a  moment  just  inside  the  door, 
looking  at  her,  forgetting  the  flowers  in  his  hands. 
He  was  sorry  for  her  and  very  uncertain  what  he 
ought  to  do.  Then  he  became  a  little  frightened, 
because  she  sat  so  still.  She  gave  no  sign  of  hav- 
ing heard  him. 

With  conscious  effort,  because  he  must  do  some- 
thing, he  crossed  the  room  till  he  stood  beside 
her.  Still  she  did  not  turn  her  eyes  from  the  win- 
dow. 

He  stood  looking  down  at  her.  She  was  a 
pathetic  figure  as  she  sat  there — the  more  pathetic, 
to  the  eyes  of  youth  at  least,  because  she  was  so 
lovely,  so  young  and  fresh  really,  although  a  little 
pale  and  heavy-eyed.  He  saw  dark  shadows  under 
her  eyes  which  must  have  come  from  tears. 

The  sight  of  these  unlocked  him,  drowned  all  his 
hesitations  in  pitying  love.  He  dropped  on  his 


MOLLIE  JUNE  365 

knees  beside  her  chair,  laying  the  long-stemmed 
roses  regardlessly  on  the  floor  and  putting  one 'hand 
on  the  back  of  her  chair. 

"  Mollie  June ! "  he  said. 

She  did  not  start.  Evidently  she  had  known  he 
was  there.  She  looked  first  at  the  flowers  on  the 
floor  and  then  at  his  face. 

"  I  am  so  sorry,"  he  cried. 

"Are  you  sorry  or  glad?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  am  terribly  sorry  for  you,"  he  answered. 

Her  hands  lay  together  in  her  lap,  and  he  at- 
tempted to  take  one  of  them. 

But  she  moved  them  slightly. 

"  Don't,"  she  said. 

"  Don't  make  me  strange  to  you,  Mollie  June," 
he  cried. 

"  How  can  I  help  it? "  she  answered.  "  I  am 
strange  to  myself  too.  You  see,  I  am  glad !  I  am 
sorry  for  George,"  she  went  on  quickly.  "  It  is 
terrible  to  me  that  he  is  dead.  But  I  am  so  glad  I 
do  not  have  to  be  his  wife  any  more ! " 

Once  more,  as  on  a  former  occasion,  some  dim 
notion  came  to  Merriam  of  what  it  must  mean  to  a 
girl  to  be  connubially  in  the  power  of  a  man  she 
does  not  love.  He  pitied  and  loved  her  greatly. 
Also  he  marvelled.  How  had  she  come  through  it 
all  so  fresh  and  unchanged?  The  answer,  of  course, 
was  youth.  But  youth  could  not  know  the  answer. 

"  I  am  glad  too,"  he  said. 

Her  eyes,  which  as  she  dropped  them  had  rested 
on  the  roses  on  the  floor,  came  back  to  his  face. 


366      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

"  You  are  glad  I  have  to  marry  you." 

"But  you  don't!" 

"  You  know  I  do." 

Instantly  he  saw  that  Aunt  Mary  had  not  put 
the  thing  fairly  before  her.  In  Aunt  Mary's  mind 
it  was  settled.  The  course  of  action  which  prom- 
ised to  save  the  precious  Norman  name  from  scan- 
dal was  the  only  possible  course  of  action.  She 
had  so  represented  it  to  Mollie  June. 

"  No,  no !  "  Merriam  cried.  "  You  shall  not  be 
forced  into  this.  You  shall  never  be  forced  in  any- 
thing again  if  I  can  help  it.  I  will  not  be  forced 
myself — even  to  marry  you." 

"What  else  can  we  do?"  asked  Mollie  June, 
searching  his  face. 

"  It's  fairly  simple,"  he  said,  a  little  bitterly. 
"  Not  easy,  but  simple.  I  will  write  a  brief,  plain 
account  of  the  whole  affair — the  impersonation — 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  send  for  a  reporter  and 
give  it  to  him.  That  will  end  everything.  I  will 
sit  down  now  at  that  desk  and  write  it  and  call 
for  a  man  and  give  it  to  him  while  Aunt  Mary 
thinks  we  are  still  talking — unless  you  tell  me 
not  to." 

"Would  you  do  that?" 

"Indeed!  will!" 

He  rose  to  his  feet.  He  meant  it,  and  she  saw 
that  he  meant  it.  To  be  forced  in  this  thing  was, 
in  fact,  even  less  to  his  liking  perhaps  than  to 
hers. 

Standing,  he  saw  the  roses  at  his   feet.     He 


MOLLIE  JUNE  367 

stooped  and  picked  them  up  and  handed  them  to 
her. 

"  You'll  let  me  give  you  these? ?>  he  said,  his 
manner  more  determined  than  lover-like.  "  I  saw 
them  from  the  elevator  as  I  was  coming  up  here 
with  Aunt  Mary.  They  were  so  like  you  that  I 
could  not  help  buying  them  and  bringing  them  to 
you." 

She  accepted  them  passively,  looking  up  at  him. 
Perhaps  she  liked  him  determined  rather  than 
lover-like. 

' "  I  am  not  giving  you  up,"  he  went  on  gravely. 
"  But  you  will  go  away  somewhere  with  Aunt  Mary, 
and  I  will  go  back  to  Riceville.  I  have  my  con- 
tract for  the  rest  of  this  year  at  least.  And  if  you 
will  wait  a  few  years — you  will  want  to  wait  and 
rest  a  while, — I  will  come  back  and  win  you  in  my 
own  right." 

She  did  not  answer  but  looked  up  at  Mm,  still 
searching  his  face. 

For  a  moment  he  stood  regarding  her.  That 
image  of  her  as  she  sat  there  with  the  flowers  in  her 
lap  and  her  uplifted  face  and  questioning  eyes, 
more  lovely  than  ever  in  their  intense  gravity  in 
spite  of  their  trace  of  tears,  remained  one  of  the 
permanent  treasures  of  his  memory. 

He  turned  away  and  walked  over  to  the  writing 
table  and  sat  down.  It  was  a  moment  or  two  be- 
fore he  could  think  why  he  was  there.  Then  he 
remembered  and  drew  towards  him  several  sheets 
of  the  hotel  stationery  and  took  up  a  pen.  He  real- 


368      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

ised  that  he  was  in  a  very  poor  frame  of  mind 
for  literary  composition,  but  he  mastered  his  at- 
tention and  wrote: 

Statement  by  John  Merriam  regarding  His 
Impersonation  of  Senator  Norman 

He  underlined  those  words  and  resisted  an  im- 
pulse to  turn  and  look  at  Mollie  June.  He  wanted 
to  know  whether  she  was  looking  at  him  or  looking 
out  at  the  window  again.  He  wanted,  too,  merely 
to  see  her.  But  he  would  not  look.  With  a  heroic 
effort  he  brought  his  mind  back  to  the  paper  be- 
fore him.  How  to  begin?  Where  to  begin?  It 
was  a  long  story,  he  realised.  He  must  make  it 
as  brief  as  possible.  He  could  omit  much. 
But  he  must  introduce  himself.  The  public  did 
not  know  him  from  Adam.  He  seized  at  this 
straw. 

"  My  name  is  John  Merriam,"  he  wrote.  "  I  am 
the  principal  of  the  high  school  at  Riceville,  Illinois. 
On  my  mother's  side  I  am  related  to " 

He  stopped  abruptly.  It  was  the  fragrance  of 
roses  that  interrupted  him.  Mollie  June  had  risen 
and  come  over  beside  him.  His  effort  of  concentra- 
tion had  been  so  great  that  he  had  not  heard  her. 
She  carried  the  flowers  pressed  against  the  bosom 
of  her  dress.  The  action  was  probably  mechanical ; 
she  was  too  much  engrossed  to  think  to  put  them 
down.  She  did  not  look  at  him  but  over  his  shoul- 
der at  his  writing.  She  read  it. 

Apparently  his  opening  statement  caught  her 


MOLLIE  JUNE  369 

attention.  She  looked  at  Mm  and  smiled  slightly, 
more  with  her  mouth  than  her  eyes,  which  were 
still  grave. 

"  You  wouldn't  like  to  change  your  name,  would 
you?  "  she  said. 

"  Mollie  Jiur         He  was  on  his  feet. 

She  backed  away  from  him,  pressing  her  flowers 
tight, 

"  Would  you?  "  she  demanded. 

"  It's  not  that,"  he  said,  not  daring  to  advance 
towards  her  lest  she  should  retreat  farther. 

"A  woman  always  has  to  change  her  name  when 
she  marries.  Why  shouldn't  a  man  do  it  for 
once?  " 

He  started  forward  now  and  caught  her  arm  and 
led  her  back  to  her  chair  and  dropped  on  his  knees 
again  beside  her. 

"  Dearest  Mollie  June,"  he  said,  "  I'll  change  my 
name  to  yours  so  gladly,  if  you  will  let  me.  So  as 
to  have  you  sooner  than  I  could  the  other  way. 
But  not  unless  you  want  me  to !  "  he  added  fiercely. 
"  For  yourself !  " 

She  looked  at  him,  shyly  now. 

"  I  would  rather  have  it  the  other  way  myself," 
she  said,  tears  standing  in  her  eyes  at  last,  "  and 
wait  and  change  my  name  to  yours.  But  I  think 
we  ought  to  do  it  this  way  for  George." 

"  For  George ! " 

"  Yes,  and  Aunt  Mary.  She  has  been  very  good 
to  me.  George  was  good  to  me  too  in  his  way. 
And  he  was  my  husband,  and  he's  dead.  If  we  can 


370      MOLLIE'S  SUBSTITUTE  HUSBAND 

save  his  name  and  save  her — this  way, — don't  you 
think  we  ought  to?  " 

Then  of  course  he  put  his  arms  about  her. 

"  I  won't  call  you  George,  though ! "  she  said 
presently,  very  emphatically. 

"  What  will  you  call  me,  dearest?  " 

She  smiled  at  him  through  her  tears  and  with 
a  gesture  that  ravished  him  lifted  his  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

"  Mr.  John !  "  she  whispered. 

He  would  have  kissed  her  again,  but  she  hur- 
ried on. 

"We'll  pretend  to  people  that  it's  a  nickname 
left  over  from  some  game  or  play." 

"  It  is  left  over  from  a  sort  of — play,"  he  an- 
swered, and  then  she  was  ready  for  another  kiss. 


THE    END 


UC  SOUTHERN  HE6WNW.  UBRARY  FAOUTY 


A     000045718     4 


